Dawson Pays Back Gillette

For the second straight night, the Dawson Buccaneers got revenge for an earlier loss. After beating Casper on Friday night, the Bucs beat the visiting Pronghorns from Gillette College 76-64 on Saturday. Dawson got the last word on the only two teams who have beaten them this season as they moved to 14-2 on the season and finished their non-conference schedule by going 7-2 against all Region IX teams. It was Dawson's 19th straight home win. They will start their second round of conference games at home on Thursday vs. Miles Community College.

"It was a great weekend of basketball in Glendive," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "Games against high level teams like Casper and Gillette will make us a lot better and get us ready for the tough conference grind. Our defense was really good tonight. We protected the paint and protected the rim while playing them even on the boards. Sam gave us a big lift off the bench. I love how our guys have come back from the Christmas break in better shape and even more hungry to prove themselves."

Even though the game eventually turned into a defensive battle, it didn't start that way in the early moments. Guards Ty Buckmon and Seth Amunrud connected from deep to give Dawson an 8-2 lead. Forwards Aleksis Nika and Kur Maler also delivered from long range to extend the lead to 20-12. That was the largest lead for either team until the closing minutes of the game. Over the next eight minutes, the visiting Pronghorns outscored their hosts 16-4 to gain an 28-24 advantage. Dawson closed out the half with a lay-up from Maler and a jumpshot from Amunrud to take a 35-34 lead into the break. The Bucs forced 10 turnovers and scored 13 points off those turnovers in the first half. Nobody for either team reached double figures in the opening twenty minutes.

Gillette scored the first five points of the second half, but Justin Asi answered for Dawson with two baskets in the paint to tie the game. Midway through the half with the game tied again, Dawson ran off seven straight points on a drive by Sam Massaquoi and two more jumpshots for Amunrud that put Dawson up 55-48. After that, Dawson maintained a lead of at least six points for the rest of the game.

Their largest lead was the twelve point gap after four free throws from Amunrud in the closing minute that sealed the double digit win. Amunrud, Asi and Massaquoi led the way in the second half with 12 points, 11 points and 9 points respectively. Dawson shot 47% from the field in the second half and 39% from 3-point range. The Bucs defense held the Pronghorns to 27% shooting from the field and 30 points in the second half.

Dawson outscored Gillette 32-16 in the paint and 14-4 on second chance points for the game. Amunrud finished with a game high 19 points and 6 rebounds. Only two others finished in double figures for Dawson. Justin Asi had 17 points and 7 rebounds. Massaquoi ended with 13 points. Caleb Hollenbeck led Gillette with 14 points and Jahki Gupton scored 13 points.

Dawson improved to 14-2 on the season while Gillette dropped to 15-3.