Dawson Bounces Back with Win Over Western Nebraska

After dropping their first game of the season on Thursday, Dawson bounced back with a convincing 76- 63 win over Western Nebraska on Friday in the Gillette Border Wars. The Bucs completely dominated the boards, outrebounding the Cougars 57-27 overall and 20-4 on the offensive glass. They also held WNCC to 36% shooting overall and 15% from long range (4-26). The win boosts Dawson's record to 11-1 on the season.

"I can't remember coaching in a game where we outrebounded a team by 30," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "Our guys really bought into the game plan and executed it flawlessly. I love that we bounced back from getting beat down yesterday and came out focused and driven to get it done tonight. We need to take better care of the ball, but that hasn't been much of an issue this year, so hopefully this was just an aberration."

In the first half, DCC built a fourteen point lead halfway through, but turnovers and poor shooting plagued the Bucs and allowed Western Nebraska to stay within striking distance. Balanced scoring and good offensive rebounding helped Dawson take a 33-26 lead at halftime. Nobody on either team reached double figures in the opening twenty minutes.

Dawson's defense remained stingy in the second half and their rebounding got even better. Their offense also picked up as they connected on 5-11 from 3-point range and made 14-19 from the charity stripe. The feisty Bucs kept their lead around double digits for most of the second half. Western Nebraska pulled within three points at one point, but that didn't last long. Dawson held the Cougars scoreless on six straight possessions and regained a sixteen point lead with a minute left in the game.

About the only negative on the night for Dawson was 27 turnovers, but they forced WNCC into 20 turnovers and, with the sizeable rebounding advantage, it didn't make a difference. Dawson had a balanced scoring night with five guys in double figures, led by Ty Buckmon's 19 points and 9 rebounds. Roniel Oguekwe had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Seth Amunrud scored 13 points. Justin Asi had a tough shooting night, but still managed to finish with 12 points and a whopping 16 rebounds. Jordan Jasper rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points.

Western Nebraska only had two guys reach double figures. Maurice Walker scored 14 points and Willie Wilson had 11 points.

Dawson will conclude the Borders Wars in Gillette with a 10:45 am tip-off on Saturday with Casper College.