Dawson Survives Scare from Williston State
The Williston State Tetons mounted a strong second half comeback and almost broke Dawson's undefeated home record, but the Buccaneers survived in a battle for second place in the Mon-Dak Conference Monday night in Glendive. Josiah McDonald led the charge for the visitors with a triple double of 43 points, 12 rebounds and 10 steals. Twenty-six of those points came in the second half when he almost single handedly helped erase a fourteen point deficit. He tied the game at 84 with a three-pointer with 5:49 remaining and then took their only lead of the game on the next possession with a lay-up. Dawson closed out the game with a three-pointer from Delray Lilley and free throws from Brandon Hymes and Kai Guess. Dawson held Williston scoreless on their last three possessions to secure the hard fought 92-89 win.
"It felt like a post-season game tonight," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "Teams aren't going to lay down for you. You have to maintain your intensity for forty minutes and get stops on the defensive end. They played harder than we did for much of the game, but fortunately we got stops down the stretch and finished them off. It's not easy to win college basketball games, so even when it doesn't feel great, you need to appreciate it and celebrate it. There's a good chance we will be playing them again in the post-season."
The win improves Dawson's conference record to 8-2 and Williston falls to 6-4. Depending on the outcome of the last games of the regular season this week, it looks likely that Dawson will finish 2nd and Williston will finish 3rd which would mean a potential semifinal matchup.
Dawson started the game on a 10-2 run on two three-pointers from Delray Lilley and a couple of lay-ups from Brandon Hymes. McDonald brought the Tetons right back into the game with three-pointers on three straight possessions to make the score 11-14. After Williston pulled within a point at 13-14, Dawson bursted out on an 11-3 run with all of their points being scored by their bench. The Buccaneers took their largest lead of the half by fourteen points after Lilley made two free throws and another three-pointer. McDonald closed the half with two free throws to make the score 52-40 heading into the break. Three players reached double figures in the opening half for Williston, led by McDonald's 17. Dawson also had three guys in double figures, led by Hymes with 14 points. Dawson shot 61% from the field in the half and 63% from the three-point line (7-11), including a perfect 4-4 from Lilley.
Dawson only shot five three's in the second half, but they did manage to get to the free throw line 28 times. Thirteen turnovers plagued the Buccaneers after the break. Williston climbed back into the game, eventually taking their only lead of the game, 86-84, with 5:34 left. Brandon Hymes answered with two free throws to tie the game again. After a McDonald three-point miss, Lilley made the only three-pointer of the second half for Dawson to put them up by three. Charlie McKenna responded with a three for Williston to tie it up one more time with 4:20 left. That was the last points of the game for the Tetons. McDonald missed three shots down the stretch, including on their last possession when he was surrounded by five Buccaneers. The rebound was tipped out and eventually corralled by Hymes who threw it ahead to Kai Guess. Guess got fouled and made both of his free throws. Williston tried to the tie the game with a half-courter at the buzzer, but it went long.
Dawson is a perfect 9-0 on the season at home and have won 34 straight conference home games. Their last conference loss at home was in February of 2022.
The Buccaneers shot 50% from the field and 50% from the three-point line for the game. They also made 26-40 from the free throw line. Williston shot 43% from the field and 36% from the three-point line, but were almost perfect from the free throw line, making 13-14.
Hymes led five Buccaneers in double figures with 23 points on 10-15 shooting. Delray Lilley scored 19 points and went 5-5 from the three point line. Zakai Owens provided a well balanced stat line with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Kai Guess finished with 15 points and Matt Kinzeler added 10 points.
It was the Buccaneers 20th win of the season. This is the 9th straight 20 win season for Dawson. They will travel to Bismarck to face United Tribes Technical College on Thursday and then return home for their final regular season home game on Sunday at 4:00 pm against Dakota College at Bottineau.
