Dawson Handles Business at Home against Williston
Dawson stayed undefeated in the young season, moving to 6-0 by beating Williston 93-60 on Thursday night in Glendive. Williston scored the first basket of the game, but Dawson countered right away to take the lead and they never relinquished it for the rest of the night. The Bucs did it by outscoring the Tetons in the paint 18-6 in the first half and on the offensive glass, outscoring Williston 11-2. Sophomore guard Joe Mpoyo led the way with 16 points in the first half by making 4-6 from long range. Dawson went into the break with a 41-28 advantage.
Dawson owned the start of the second half, using their pressure to force turnovers and ignite their fastbreak. The 13 point half-time lead doubled in the first five minutes of the second half. The Bucs depth wore their visitors down and they continued to dominate the boards. Dawson forced 22 turnovers and outrebounded the visitors 48-20 on the night. They outscored them 50-22 in the paint, 33-16 off turnovers and 27-5 in second chance points. All twelve Buccaneers got in the scoring column.
“I didn’t think we played with much energy in the first half and our press was not effective at all,” shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. “But in the second half, we turned it up and played Buccaneer basketball. The effort, attitude and togetherness was what we expect in our program and it really showed. That’s what has brought us success in the past and what will help us live up to our potential this year. Plus, that’s why the fans come to watch us play. If I was a Bucs fan in the first half, I probably would have left and not come back this year. But if they did stay for the second half, then I’m sure we wet their appetite to come back.”
Dawson's Joe Mpoyo finished with a game high 23 points, including 5 3-pointers. Walker Doman from Winnet, MT added 15 points and 5 rebounds. Damon Gros Ventre from Lodge Grass scored 12 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
Williston had 3 guys in double figures led by Abi Abedo's 16 points. Wilson Rankin scored 15 points on 5 3-pointers and Shaheed Muhammad added 13 points.
Dawson is undefeated at 6-0 and sitting atop of the conference standings, but has a big matchup at second place North Dakota State College of Science on Saturday. NDSCS is 4-1 in conference and only a game behind Dawson.
