Bucs Come from 21 Down to Beat Bismarck
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers won their 4 th game in a row and improved their overall
record to 22-7 and conference record to 16-4 with a 82-78 win on Thursday night in Glendive. It didn't
look like they would have a chance to win this one early as the visiting Bismarck State Mystics built a
twenty one point lead halfway through the first half, but the Bucs completed their second 20+ point
comeback of the season.
"We didn't come out with the right kind of energy and effort to beat a good team at the beginning of
the game," commented Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. Once we fixed that, we were a different team. Joe
Mpoyo was huge for us and Chris Davidson did a great job of bringing energy and turning around the
momentum of the game. We are good enough to beat anybody, but there's also nobody who couldn't
beat us if we don't have the right approach."
The visitors from Bismarck made their first six 3-point attempts and BSC was leading 27-6 at the 10:12
mark after Jayden Hamilton made another one from long range. Dawson answered back from long
range. They started their run with a 3-pointer from Mpoyo, then a 3-pointer from Damon Gros Ventre,
followed by another one from Mpoyo. Davidson also made a few key drives and buckets in the stretch,
including one that capped a 22-6 run to help the Bucs get within striking distance 33-28. The Mystics
dominated the boards in the opening half 20-13, including 7 offensive. They went into the break with a
39-31 advantage.
The lead stayed between three to seven points for the first seven minutes of the second half. Dawson
finally took the lead 54-53 with a mini 8-0 run on a layup by Davidson, three-pointer by Davidson and
another 3-pointer from Ty Buckmon. Jayden Hamilton responded back with a 3-pointer of his own to
recapture the lead for Bismarck State. Gros Ventre connected from long range on Dawson's next
possession to put them back up 57-56. There were seven lead changes in the second half as the teams
battled back and forth. The biggest lead in the final ten minutes was a five point advantage after
Anthony Bertucci made a 3-pointer, but Dawson wouldn't go away. A couple of triples from Gros Ventre
and a lay-up by Buckmon helped the Bucs go from being down four points to being up by four. Two
straight lay-ups by Evan Gross tied the game at 75 with 2:42 left. Deonte Martinez had the chance to
give the Mystics a lead, but he missed a free throw. Joe Mpoyo scored on two straight possessions for
Dawson and then made two free throws to seal the victory and keep the Bucs undefeated at home for
the season at 11-0. DCC outrebounded Bismarck by 8 in the second half.
The turnovers for the game were pretty even, though Dawson converted 28 points off turnovers to
Bismarck's 18. The shooting percentages for the game was identical at 48.4% for both teams and
Bismarck shot a higher percentage from 3-point range, but Dawson made three more 3-pointers which
proved to be the difference.
Mpoyo finished with a game high 27 points and a game high 8 rebounds. Gros Ventre and Davidson
added 14 points each. Buckmon contributed 8 points, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 rebounds. Hamilton and
Garrett Bader led Bismarck with 17 points each.
Dawson will play its final regular season game on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 in Glendive against Miles
Community College. There will be a special Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
awareness event for Sunday's game. At halftime of both games, there will be a short presentation to
include information about MMIW and MMIP and one song with dancing and presentation of tribal flags.
Everyone attending the game should wear red to show your solidarity with MMIP individuals, families
and communities. Stockman Bank will be the sponsor of the game and will be giving out popcorn to the
first 100 fans.