DCC Gets the Season Sweep Over MCC
It was much closer this time, but Dawson managed to hold off the pesky Pioneers 97-93. A few weeks ago in Glendive, the Bucs won by 30. This game was much different. The Bucs jumped out ahead 6-2, but then MCC went on a 13-0 run to grab the lead. It was a back and forth affair which included 4 ties and 6 lead changes. The Bucs wrestled back the lead and were up by 5 with 6:06 remaining, but Miles came back again to go into halftime with a 45-41 lead. MCC was doing it from the outside, hitting 5 of 10 from 3-point range while the Bucs were doing it inside, collecting 13 second chance points. In the first half, Buccaneer forward Simon Falokun outrebounded the entire MCC team 11-10. The two leading scorers for Miles were Perion Little with 15 and Erie Olonade with 12. For the Bucs, Tyrell Harper led with 11 points in a very balanced attack.
The same trends continued in the second half where Miles held a slim lead for quite a while until Dawson finally wrestled control of the game about halfway through the final half. The Buccaneers kept on rolling and built an 11 point lead with 4:06 remaining with the help of Brent Finn’s two three-pointers and some inside buckets by Taylan Barrett. The home team wasn’t done though. They fought back with some hot shooting from Little. The Pioneers got it within 5 several times, but a driving layup by Travon Hamilton and some clutch free throws by Brent Finn sealed the victory and the season sweep for Dawson.
Perion Little produced 42 points for the Pioneers by shooting 70% from the field, 60% from the 3-point line and 100% from the free throw line. Eli Olonade also contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort. Those two kept the game close but didn’t get the support from others to get over the hump.
The Buccaneers had a much more balanced effort with 9 players scoring and 5 players in double figures, led by Harper’s 19 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists. Falokun finished with 18 rebounds and 11 points and Finn also had a double double with 17 points and 12 assists. Tate Savoie and David Shepard also scored in double figures. Dawson held a 41-24 advantage on the boards which led to a 21-1 advantage on 2nd chance points. Miles had good shooting percentages and only 5 turnovers for the game, but it still wasn’t enough to defeat Dawson. The Bucs scored 46 points in the paint compared to 28 for the Pioneers and their bench outscored Miles 29-8.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson was pleased, “Anytime you can get a road win against a quality team, it’s a good win. I thought we played much tougher tonight than we did last weekend. It was nice to play a close game and be able to execute offensively and get the stops on defense that we needed to win the game.”
After a couple of weeks on the road, the Buccaneers will return home on Friday to play a 3:30 pm game against a Northwest College team that defeated them last weekend. It will be the Bucs last game before they start Final Exams next week.
