Dawson Captures Conference Championship on Sophomore Night
The five sophomores went out in style on Monday night for the Dawson Buccaneers. Behind the strong play from Sam Massaquoi, Jordan Jasper, Seth Amunrud, Kur Maler and Justin Asi, Dawson bolted out for 67 points in the first half in their final regular season home game against the Miles Community College Pioneers. It was an impressive offensive display as Dawson celebrated their special sophomores with a 121-90 win. The second highest scoring team in the nation won their 26th game of the season, which is the most wins in the country. With this win, Dawson captured the Mon-Dak Conference Championship for the regular season and earned the #1 seed for the postseason Region XIII Tournament. The Bucs are a perfect 14-0 at home on the season and have won 13 games in a row.
"It was a really special night for this special group of sophomores," shared Dawson head coach Joe Peterson. "They have grown and developed so much on and off the court in the past two years because of their character, work ethic and determination. I am thankful they chose to come to DCC and for the work they have put in. It is great to see them enjoy this night together with their teammates."
Points came early and often for Dawson as all five sophomores started and got into the scoring column, scoring 21 points in the first five minutes of the game. When Coach Peterson subbed in a fresh five players, the score was 21-11. When the sophomores returned 3 ½ minutes later, they went on a 15-8 run to go up by 15 points. The sophomores had one more chance in the first half with 3:28 remaining before half-time. They finished strong, outscoring the Pioneers 13-2 to take a 28 point lead into the break. The final stretch included a 3-pointer, dunk and lay-up from Amunrud and four free throws from Jordan Jasper. Jasper was playing in his first game since getting injured on January 6th. It was a dominating opening twenty minutes for the Buccaneers as they forced 13 turnovers and scored 21 points off those turnovers. They also beat the Pioneers in the paint, 38-26, and on the glass, 26-15. Four players reached double figures in the first half for Dawson. Yohandry Ortiz tried to help keep the visitors in the game with 19 points.
The Buccaneers sophomores came out strong again in the second half, scoring 15 points in the first five minutes, giving them a 82-48 advantage. Later on, Dawson got up by as much as 38 points after two Amunrud free throws, 104-66. Miles couldn't get the deficit any lower than 30 the rest of the night. It was the first time all year that Dawson had all thirteen of its players available and playing in a game. Ten guys scored and twelve guys collected at least one rebound. The Buccaneers forced 21 turnovers in the game, leading to 32 points off turnovers; and they collected 24 offensive rebounds which led to 18 second chance points. Those two factors led to 96 field goal attempts and 30 free throws for the hosts. Miles had 67 field goal attempts and 27 free throws.
"We actually didn't have a very good shooting night," added Coach Peterson. "We were below our season averages, shooting only 46% from the field and 31% from 3-point range; but when you get almost 30 more shots than your opponent, that gives you a chance to score a lot of points and win big. It all started with our defensive intensity and our tenacity on the boards tonight."
Seth Amunrud led five Buccaneers in double figures with 26 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 5 steals and 3 assists. Sophomores Asi, Maler and Jasper scored 19, 18 and 18 respectively. Maler grabbed 9 rebounds. Aries Lewis also had 9 rebounds, as well as 16 points. Ortiz led Miles with 27 points on 10-14 shooting from the field.
Dawson will close out the regular season with games at Williston State College on Sunday and Dakota College Bottineau on Monday. Williston is currently in second place in the conference. Their only conference loss on the court was at Dawson a few weeks ago. As conference champions, Dawson will host their Region XIII Tournament Semifinal game at home on March 5th. If they win that, then they will also host the championship game on March 9th.