Men's Basketball Releases 2016-2017 Schedule
Dawson Community College Head Basketball Coach Joe Peterson released the schedule for the 2016-2017 basketball season. The season will be tipping off against Jamestown College JV on the road November 2nd. Their first home game will be against the Eastern Montana All-Stars November 10th followed by other home games on November 12th, 21st and December 6th and 8th.
Their toughest tests early on should be against Gillette College who finished 3rd in the nation last year at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. When the two teams met last January, it took a buzzer beater for Gillette to steal one from the Bucs and stay undefeated. DCC’s non-conference schedule also includes more stiff competition when they travel to the Casper Thanksgiving Tournament to face the host team along with Lamar College and Central Wyoming College. One of the highlights of the schedule every year is the match-up with Miles Community College which will take place December 16th in Miles City and February 20th in Glendive.
In the Mon-Dak Conference the Bucs hope to get off to a hot start, playing 4 of their first 6 games at home in January. For the 2nd half of the conference season, they will be on the road for 4 of the final 6 games in February. The Bucs hope to be playing in the Regional Championship Game scheduled for March 5th where the winner will get to host the Region XI winner for a chance to go to Nationals.
Last year, the Bucs struggled early on with a tough non-conference schedule, but the good competition in November and December helped prepare them for success during the conference season. They finished 2nd in conference and reached the Regional Championship Game, losing to North Dakota State College of Science.
Coach Peterson commented, “Once again we have tried to schedule tough games early on to help prepare us for the rigors of a conference season. By the end of November I think we will be able to tell what kind of players we have and how good we can be. I’m also excited about the number of games we have against 4 year schools. I like to play those kind of games so that our players get more chances to be seen which will help provide more opportunities for their future.”
The DCC Athletics Season will launch with “Meet the Bucs” Night on Tuesday, October 11th which will be a free event for the entire community to come up to the college and meet the basketball teams as well as baseball, softball and rodeo. The college will also host an alumni weekend October 21-23.
