Dawson Men Blow Out NDSCS to Claim 1st Place
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers started slow, but built momentum as the game went on and convincingly beat North Dakota State College of Science 75-47. Both teams were tied for 1st place in the Mon-Dak Conference with identical 7-1 records so the win put the Bucs in sole possession of 1st place, a game ahead of the Wildcats. The win also avenged an earlier loss from November when NDSCS gave Dawson their only conference blemish. In Sunday’s game, Dawson’s defense held the Wildcats to their lowest scoring output since 2013.
It didn’t look like it was going to be Dawson’s day early on as they only scored 2 points in the first 6+ minutes of the game. Fortunately, their defense kept them close. Two Payton Sanders free throws helped them scored their next 2 points. Two minutes later Dawson got two more free throws from Garett Diekhans to cut the deficit to 9-6. The hosts were still down 12-8 with a little over eight minutes remaining in the first half. Aidan Fishell found Joe Mpoyo behind the zone for a lay-up to make it 12-10. With 5:26 left, the visitors still held a 20-16 advantage before Dawson closed out the half by outscoring the Wildcats 14-4. The Bucs finally claimed the lead on a Damon Gros Ventre 3-pointer with 3:51 remaining and never looked back from there. They closed the half with two 3-pointers from Joe Mpoyo to stake Dawson to a 30-24 advantage. Mpoyo scored 11 points in the first half and Dawson forced 10 turnovers. Both teams were perfect from the charity stripe, but neither team shot it will from the field or from long range in the opening twenty minutes.
Dawson started the 2nd half with a 13-0 run to build their lead to 19. Gros Ventre, Mpoyo and David Ajanaku all scored four points each during the run and Payton Sanders capped it with a free throw. DCC built the lead up to 31 points with 9:50 remaining. There was never a doubt in the final outcome after that. The Bucs shooting picked up in the second half, shooting 47% from the field and 36% from 3-point range while holding their visitors to 19% from the field and 20% from the 3-point line. The also forced ten more turnovers in the half.
The Bucs forced 20 turnovers on the night and scored 20 points off those turnovers. On the other end, Dawson took care of the ball, finishing with 10 turnovers. NDSCS was held to 24 points in the first half and 23 points in the second half. Only one player reached double figures with Peyton Newbern scoring 10 points.
“We started very slow offensively tonight, but our defense kept us in it,” explained Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. “I was proud of our guys that we didn’t panic. We kept playing hard and doing the little things until the shots started falling. We had 17 assists on 24 field goals which shows how well we shared the ball. It was almost a complete reversal of the game we played down there two months ago.”
Dawson had nine players score with three scoring in double figures. Mpoyo led the way with 21 points. Sanders scored 13 and Gros Ventre finished with 11.
With the win, DCC is 14-4 on the season and 8-1 in conference. NDSCS is 15-3 overall and 7-2 in conference. The teams will meet again in Wahpeton, ND on February 6th.
Dawson plays at home again Monday night vs. United Tribes Technical College at 7:30 pm. UTTC is 11-5 overall and 6-3 in conference.
