DANVILLE — Following a difficult night shooting in their opening day loss to Lewis & Clark, the St. Clair Skippers regained their touch in a win Thursday against Bismarck State.

They continued to show the shooting skills that coach Dale Vos said got them their first ever trip to Danville on Friday by hitting 53 percent of their shots from the floor in the second half to defeat Monroe 83-67.

Kieon Arkwright led a balanced scoring attack with a game-high 24 points. Eric Mack, Jr and Jake Stark added 16 each with Marquis Lee chipping in 11. Stark added 10 rebounds and played a game-high 35 minutes.

“When we lost our first game, we knew we weren’t ready to go home,” Stark said. “We are an outside shooting team and when we can make some early outside shots, it is good for our confidence.”

The Skippers were able to do just that, scoring their first nine points from behind the 3-point arc. The game was tied six times in the first half before the Skippers took a 39-38 lead to halftime.

Monroe’s Osman Olol was the star of the first half scoring 15 of his team high 17 points.

“It was a point of emphasis for us to get Osman to play hard,” said Tribunes coach Jerry Burns. “You need to play hard every play and he did a good job, especially in the first half.”

Monroe would take their last lead at 45-44 early in the second half before a 15-2 Skippers run put them ahead 59-47 with 10 minutes to go. The lead would reach a high of 19 points and was never lower than 10.

“We thought if we could move the ball they would struggle to be able to guard our shooters,” Vos said. “My assistant coaches came up with the idea of going to a 1-3-1 zone and it was our effort on defense that led to the second half run.

“I wanted us to be able to battle them on the boards and we did a good job against their size and won the rebound battle 35 to 32. At 6 feet, 3 inches, Jake Stark is our leading rebounder. He did a great job today and has a real feel for where the ball is going.”

The loss ends the season for the Tribunes, who were making their fourth appearance in the tournament in the last six years.

“There were a lot of differences in the game today, but one of the main ones was they made shots and we missed some easy ones,” Burns said. “When you miss easy shots it takes the life out of you. It is always a pleasure to come here and a huge honor, but the goal is a national title and we fell short of that again this year. As a coach, I need to get the team over the thought process of just being happy to be here. It is time for us to accomplish more.”

The Skippers will square off against the Pima College Aztecs at noon today in the seventh place game.

“We had 10 days to prepare for the chance to win a national title and then we lose our first game,” Vos said. “I could not be more proud of our guys and the way they reacted. They have made the most of the opportunity that was still available to them.”