Bucs Get Big Road Win
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers closed out the first half of their schedule with a hard fought 65-62 road win in Powell, Wyoming against a very good Northwest College Trappers team on Thursday night. It came down to the final possession. Dawson missed two free throws that would have made it a two possession game with less than four seconds remaining, The Trappers rebounded it and dribbled past half court but their desperation heave fell short.
Northwest came into the game 11-4 on the season. Dawson started very slow as Northwest built up a 24-12 lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half. That’s when the Buccaneers defense tightened up and they held the hosts to only 1 point in the final seven minutes before intermission. DCC went on a 12-1 run to pull within one point at the half 25-24. Dawson forced 14 turnovers in the opening half, but only connected on 2-13 from 3-point range and 2-8 from the free throw line.
“We shot it horribly in the first half, but our defense, rebounding and toughness got us back in the game and gave us a chance in the second half,” commented Bucs Coach Joe Peterson.
The roles reversed in the second half as Dawson started shooting better from long range, while Northwest started taking care of the ball and forcing turnovers. Dawson started the half well, but then the Trappers came storming back to take a five point lead. Once again, the Bucs responded to regain the lead. There were seven ties and seven lead changes in the final twenty minutes as the teams battled. Leading scorer, Joe Mpoyo, didn’t score a point in the first half, but got going in the second half, making 4-5 from behind the arc. Payton Sanders also netted a couple of big 3-pointers as DCC took the lead. Aidan Fishell also provided a spark off the bench. Dawson had a few chances to seal the game late, but a costly turnover and some missed free throws allowed the Trappers the final chance at the end.
It was an evenly matched game with both teams having similar numbers in several categories such as points off turnovers (13-15), 2nd chance points (8-10) and bench points (25-24). Mpoyo led the Bucs with a game high 17 points (all in the second half). Fishell had 13 points and Damon Gros Ventre had 12 points. Four Trappers finished in double figures, led by Davion McAdam’s 13 points (also all in the second half).
Peterson added, “We showed a lot of toughness and heart tonight. It’s not easy to go through finals week, deal with bad weather, drive all the way on the day of the game and come out and still play hard and stay together to get a win on the road against a really good team right before Christmas break. Our guys kept fighting and kept believing. Our defense looked really good at times tonight. It’s a nice way to head into a break and hopefully will keep us hungry for our upcoming conference season.”
Sitting at 11-4 on the season, Dawson will be off for the next couple of weeks before resuming action on January 6th at home in a special 4:00 pm start.
