Bucs Take Down #21 Ranked AZW on the Road
In the Arizona Western Winter Classic in Yuma, Arizona, the Dawson Community College Buccaneers upset the hosts 76-67 on Monday evening. The Arizona Western College Matadors came into the game ranked 21st in the country in the latest NJCAA Division I rankings. The previously ranked Buccaneers showed again that they compete with the top teams in the country. The win bumps Dawson's record to 9-5 on the season. They will play two more games in the Winter Classic. Tuesday they will take on Central Arizona College and on Wednesday they will play Cochise College. The loss dropped AWC to 10-3.
"We played really hard tonight and we played really well together," shared Bucs Coach Joe Peterson. "I loved the way we made the extra pass and really looked for each other. We also rebounded really well against a good rebounding team. They are outrebounding their opponents by 15 rebounds a game so that was a big focus going into the game. Our pressure really bothered them tonight as well. We played much better defensively tonight than we have for the past month."
The Matadors scored the first basket of the game off the tip, but then Dawson held the hosts to only seven points in the first eight minutes of the game as they claimed the lead and never looked back. The Bucs built up a double digit lead, but Arizona Western narrowed the gap late in the half. Both teams shot less than 40% from the field in the first half and both teams turned it over more than ten times. Dawson outrebounded the hosts by five in the half. Matt Anglo from AZW was the only player to score in double digits in the opening twenty minutes. Dawson had a balanced attack, going into the break with a 32-27 lead.
In the second half, the Bucs took better care of the ball offensively while they continued to force turnovers with their pressure. Once again, they built a double digit lead and stayed in good control for the rest of the game. Their largest lead was a fourteen point advantage with 11:20 remaining. AZW stayed within striking distance by collecting ten offensive rebounds and scoring eight second chance points; as well as getting to the free throw line 23 times in the final twenty minutes. Dawson outscored the Matadors 44-40 in the half.
For the game Dawson shot 40% from the field, 30% from the 3-point line and 62% from the free throw line while holding Arizona Western to 37% from the field, 20% from the 3-point line and 51% from the free throw line. Dawson forced 22 turnovers in the game and scored 22 points off those turnovers. Five guys scored in double digits for the Bucs and four others had at least five points. Ten guys grabbed a rebound.
