Down one point with seven seconds left on the clock, University Sioux Falls called on its lone senior Skyler Bloch and he answered, nailing a 14-foot jumper to lift the Cougars past VCSU in Sioux Falls, S.D. Saturday afternoon for a dramatic 76-75 victory. USF moves to .500 (7-7) for the first time this year, while remaining perfect (6-0) at the Stewart center this season. The win also marks the Cougars' sixth win in their last seven games.

The two teams kept things close in the first half, which featured four ties and three lead changes.

At the six minute mark, the score was tied 6-6, as Derek Brown took things into his own hands and nailed a big three to give USF their first lead of the game. Seconds later he found red-shirt freshman, Bryan Kielpinski down-low for a monsterous dunk to make it 11-8, USF.

VCSU answered and their star guard Sekani Milligen's jumper gave the Vikings their largest first half lead at the 10:18 mark. The scoreboard read 16-13.

Minutes later, the Cougars turned up their tempo and A.J. Holland found Keith Cutler in transition for a deep 3-pointer to give USF a four point lead with 8:44 left in the first half.

It was all Kielpinski the final six minutes of the half. Bloch got into foul trouble, forcing Coach Johnson to sub in his young center and he took full advantage of his opportunity. Kielpinski made a series of plays, including a rim-rocking dunk off a free-throw miss that put the home crowd on their feet.

The Cougars finished the half strong, as Kielpinski's dunk sparked a 7-2 scoring run. USF would go into the locker room up, 40-33.

USF, who shot 50% from the field, received huge first half contributions from Brown and Kielpinski. Brown led all scorers with 13 first half points, while Kielpinski added 11 points off the bench.

A stubborn Cougar defense held VCSU to just 42.3% shooting from the field, but the big difference was the shooting at the stripe, where USF hit 76.2% (16-21) of their attempts, while the Vikings converted just 57.1% (8-14) of their shots.

USF opened the second half, scoring the first five points to take a commanding 12 point lead, but Milligen and the Vikings still had plenty of fight left in them.

A trio of 3-pointers by VCSU, the last coming at the 12 minutes mark, gave the Vikings their third lead of the game as they went up 55-53.

With 8:45 to play, Brown drained two free throws to begin a 7-2 run that gave the Cougars a 67-60 advantage with 6:47 to go.

As they had all night, the Vikings responded and Milligen's 3-pointer followed by Sylvester Walker's layup gave USF a one point deficit (71-70) with 3:37 left in the game.

That is when the game became intense.

Walker went on a 3-0 scoring run to give VCSU 75-72 lead with 90 seconds to go, but Brown came right back with a quick layup for the Cougars to make it a one point game with just under a minute to play.

USF gave the Vikings two golden opportunities to seal the game at the line, but VCSU couldn't capitalize, as they missed the front end of two one and one situations, giving the Cougars one final shot.

The Cougars called a timeout with seven seconds to go and would have to inbound under their own basket trailing by one. They inbounded the ball to Holland, who broke the press and found Bloch for a 14-foot jump shot, which he nailed with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.

VCSU had trouble getting the ball inbounds, as they hit the roof of the Stewart Center while attempting to heave the ball down the court. After regaining possession, the Cougars dribbled it out for a sweet 76-75 win over the Vikings at home.

USF continued its hot shooting in the second half, where they converted 54.2% of their shots.

The Cougars also won the battle on the boards, securing 30 rebounds to 28 by the Vikings.

Brown finished 5-12 from the field and 9-10 at the free throw line to lead USF in scoring for the second consecutive game with 20 points. On limited minutes, Bloch tallied 13 points, while Kielpinski went 3-3 from the floor to post a career high 13 points and four rebounds.

USF will take 10 days off before hosting Dakota State University Tuesday (Jan.17) at the Stewart Center. Tip-off is set for 8p.m.