DCC Goes Toe to Toe with Top 25 Gillette College
In the Gillette Pronghorn Classic, the DCC Men’s Basketball team took on the hosts on Friday night and gave them a scare before losing their first game of the season. Gillette College has 8 players returning from their National Sweet 16 team last year. They have won back to back Region IX Championships and are currently ranked 19th in the country. They weren’t overlooking the undefeated Buccaneers and came to play. DCC matched up well through a very even first half that had 7 ties and 7 lead changes. Gillette took the lead going into halftime 37-32. DCC outrebounded the Pronghorns in the first half and forced more turnovers, but didn’t quite shoot it as well. Kendrick Jackson led Gillette with 13 points while David Shepard kept the Bucs in it with 12 points off the bench where the visitors outscored the home team 18-3.
To open the 2nd half, Gillette played smothering defense on the perimeter. They built up a double digit lead and kept it between 8-15 points the rest of the way. Gillette outscored DCC in the 2nd half 52-40 and won the game 89-72 to move to 7-0 on the season. It was their lowest scoring output of the season though as they have been averaging 100 ppg. Five Pronghorns were in double figures, led by Kenny Jackson’s 21 points on 4-5 shooting from long range. Trent Williams added 16, Ted McRee and Edwin Jeudy 15 points and Abdul Mohamed had 14 points. Jeudy also pulled down 15 rebounds. The Bucs were led by Shepard’s 23 points. Simon Falokun contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds before fouling out while Travon Hamilton scored 11 and Tate Savoie 10. DCC outrebounded them 41-40 including 14 offensive rebounds. The turnover battle was even, but Gillette outshot Dawson 49% to 39% for the game which was the difference.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson had this to say, “It was a great opportunity to play against one of the better teams in the country. We held our own for most of the game, but weren’t used to playing such a physical, athletic game. We got pretty good shots, but struggled to finish at the rim against their length. I know games like this will make us better and help us get prepared for conference.”
The Buccaneers have a quick turnaround, playing Colorado Northwestern at 1:00 pm Saturday before returning home to play Little Big Horn College on Monday night at 7:30 pm. Monday’s game will be the Bucs 7th game in 11 days.
