Bismarck State takes down Dawson 99-86
The visiting Bismarck State Mystics jumped on Dawson Community College right off the bat and built up an 8-0 lead in the opening minutes. The Buccaneers fought back to take the lead a couple of times in the first half, but the Mystics closed out the half the same way they started it, and took a 45-36 advantage to the locker room. Their good opening half was fueled by a 28-21 rebounding advantage and forcing 9 turnovers. Melvin Collins had a huge opening half for the visitors by putting up 18 points and 8 rebounds. Gavin McPherson helped keep DCC close by hitting three from long range and scoring 11 points.
The Bucs chipped away at the deficit, cutting it to 3 points about halfway through the 2nd half, but Bismarck State quickly answered with a 3-pointer and a couple of free-throws. Once they pushed the lead back to double digits, they kept the lead at right around 10 points for the rest of the way. Dawson tried to keep it close with a couple of three-pointers by Daniel Shedden in the closing minutes, but the Mystics excellent free-throw shooting kept the Bucs at bay. BSC finished the night hitting 80% from the charity stripe (24-30) while the Bucs shot a measly 50% (16-32). Collins finished with 29 points and 14 rebounds for Bismarck while Brody Nieuwsma added 27 points.
Shedden scored 25 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and had 7 assists to go along with 5 steals. Stefan Stubbs posted another double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Both teams shot a very similar percentage from the field and from the 3 point line and the turnover stats were identical, but the difference came at the free-throw line and on the glass where Bismarck finished with a 55-44 advantage.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson was disappointed with the outcome, “I thought we would come out and play a lot better tonight. After a good win last week where we really defended and rebounded, we didn’t do the same things tonight. We lack the consistency needed to be a good team. It’s easy to point to the poor shooting from the free-throw line and turnovers, but if we would just buckle down and play defense and rebound, we would have a chance every night even when our shots aren’t falling.”
DCC will get another chance soon when they go back on the road Thursday to face Williston State College.
