Bucs Score 64 in 2nd Half to Beat Dakota College
The Dakota College Bottineau Lumberjacks started off Thursday night's game on fire from long range and built up a 25 point lead with 7 minutes remaining in the first half, but Dawson started chipping away to cut the deficit to 11 at half. The visiting Buccaneers exploded for 64 second half points to win 100-88.
"It was a wild game," described Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "I thought we played fairly well at the start, but they just couldn't miss. We showed a lot of toughness to get back into the game and hang around until we got hot. Both teams hit big shot after big shot down the stretch, exchanging leads. It felt like there was about 3-4 straight possessions when we would hit a 3-pointer and they would come right back down and match us on the other end. I was so proud of our composure, toughness and togetherness in a really difficult environment to play"
Dakota College came into the game with a nine game winning streak and having won 14 of their last 15 games. The Bucs had won eight games in a row coming into the game, and both teams had matching 16-4 records. The Jacks connected on 10-17 (59%) from the 3 point line in the first half and outrebounded Dawson 23-15. The home team built a 43-18 lead with seven minutes remaining before Dawson started chipping away by tightening up their defense and forcing several turnovers. The Bucs outscored DCB 18-4 in the final seven minutes of the half, punctuated by a Payton Sanders 3-pointer and a blocked shot at the buzzer by Aleksis Nika. Brendan Redhead and Connor Trahan led the way for Dakota College with 14 points and 5 rebounds each in the first half.
Slowly and steadily Dawson kept chipping away at the deficit in the second half before they finally took the lead for the first time in the game 67-66 on a lay-up from Payton Sanders with nine minutes remaining. There were 4 ties and 10 more lead changes after that as the two teams battled back and forth, mostly from long range.
"It felt like a 3-point contest out there for most of the game," added Peterson. "They are a really good team. We were fortunate to escape with a win. We dialed in and got stops when we needed to at the end of both halves. It was just a great college basketball game!"
At the 3:40 mark, Dawson was clinging to a two point lead 88-86. Similar to the first half, the Bucs ended the game strong, going on a 12-2 run to win 100-88.
DCC finished the game making 17-33 from the 3-point line. DCB made 16-33. The Bucs forced 22 turnovers, converting those into 25 points. They only turned it over 10 times themselves. The +12 turnover advantage plus 6 more offensive boards led to 18 extra possessions for the visitors.
Three Bucs finished with over 20 points led by Damon Gros Ventre's 28 points on 8-14 FG and 6-11 3's. He was followed closely behind by Payton Sanders with 27 points. Sanders was 6-8 from the 3-point line. Joe Mpoyo finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds. David Ajanaku contributed 10 points and a career high 10 rebounds.
Redhead finished with 23 points and 8 rebounds for DCB. Max Groom added 20 points while Connor Trahan scored 19 points.
Thursday night's game was the first of five straight road games for Dawson. They will head back out on the road next week to play Lake Region State College on Wednesday and Bismarck State College on Thursday.
Dawson improved to 17-4 on the season and a league leading 11-1 in conference.