Dawson Men Polish Off Lake Region
(pictured: Reggie Martin)
Two of the best teams in the Mon-Dak Conference squared off in Glendive on Saturday afternoon. Both Lake Region State College and Dawson came into the game 3-1 in conference. The Buccaneers used a strong second half surge to overcome a nine point deficit and escape with the 80-75 victory to take sole possession of 2nd place with a 4-1 conference record.
“That’s a really good basketball team we beat today,” Coach Joe Peterson shared. “They are going to win a lot of games this year. They have good balance and are well-coached. I liked the toughness our guys showed after getting home at 3:00 am yesterday from our road trip. They came out and competed and stuck with it. Reggie and Kose gave us a big lift and Jajuan was hard to stop in that second half.”
In the first half, the teams went back and forth early on until the Buccaneers used a lay-up by Reggie Martin, followed by back to back three-pointers from Cordell Stinson and Martin to go up by nine points 27-18. The Royals answered back with an 18-4 run to take a five point lead shortly before intermission. In the final minute, Jalen Tot connected with another 3-pointer to pull Dawson within three, but Lake Region scored on a jumper by Clarence Daniels to take a 39-34 advantage into the break. Daniels and James Sommer led the Royals with 12 points each in the first half.
In the second half, LRSC built on their lead and were ahead 49-40 with 13:56 before Dawson went on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 49. The run was started with a lay-up from Jajuan Tot, followed by a 3-pointer from Riley Spoonhunter and two free throws from Tot. Kose Egbule capped the run with a driving lay-up. The visiting Royals scored the next four, but Dawson answered with the next eight points on a 3 pointer from Jalen Tot, and then Reggie Martin scored a lay-up and another 3-pointer to put Dawson up by four points. A few minutes later, they built on that lead with another 3-pointer from Jalen Tot and a couple of free throws by DeAngelo Horn. The visitors cut it to two points a few minutes later before Horn scored four straight and Jalen Tot capped a 7-0 run with another one from long range. The Royals didn’t quit though and on a dunk by Daniels pulled to within 3 at 78-75 with 1:10 left, but that was their last points of the game. Jajuan Tot made a couple of free throw and Dawson held on for a five point win to move to 5-1 on the season.
Dawson forced 13 turnovers in the second half and scored 15 points off those turnovers. Even though Lake Region shot 53% for the game, the turnovers helped Dawson turn the tide. Dawson’s bench outscored the Royals 36-14.
Dawson placed 5 guys in double figures led by Reggie Martin who shot 6 for 10 from the field to score 15. Jalen Tot and DeAngelo Horn both had 13 points and 4 rebounds to go along with multiple steals. Cordell Stinson and Jajuan Tot each had 10 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Jajuan also dished out 5 assists.
The Royals were led by Daniels who scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and James Sommer who shot 7-9 from the field including 3-3 from the 3PT line and dished out 6 assists. Anthony Davis also had 15 points and 3 rebounds.
Dawson will go and play at Miles Community College on Monday, November 15th in another MonDak Conference matchup.
