(Editor's note: DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE - The Dawson Community College basketball men moved to 4-1 on the young season with a high-scoring 106-82 road win over Dakota College Bottineau Thursday night.
DCC raced out to a 53-29 lead at halftime bolstered by 17 second chance points and by forcing 12 turnovers. The second half started the same way with Dawson increasing their lead to 30 points three minutes in, but the home team found life by connecting from long range. The Lumberjacks eventually closed the deficit to single digits before the Bucs ended on a high note and secured a 106-82 win. DCB played their visitors even in the second half 53-53.
“I was disappointed that we let up defensively in the second half,” commented Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. “It’s not easy when you get up by a large margin to keep up the intensity, but that’s what the best teams do. Hopefully we learned a good lesson tonight that will help us down the road. My hat is off to Bottineau. They really played hard and kept fighting until the final minute.”
Six Dawson players reached double figures and ten players scored at least five points. Dawson was led by Jalen Tot’s 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Deron McDonald led Dakota College with 22 points.
Dawson returns home on Saturday at noon to host Lake Region State College. Both teams are tied for second place in the conference with a record of 3-1.
DCC's women came out of New Town, ND winning two of three games in the Mon-Dak Conference Tip-Off Tournament.
With a new batch of freshmen, along with one returner, Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. was pleased with the results. He stated, “Our program is not at full strength. We have some injuries with some key players out, and for us to perform the way we did, showed how strong we can really be.”
In the first game, Dawson defeated Lake Region State College 73-65. Dawson shot 44% from the field, had 16 points off 19 Lake Region turnovers. The Lady Bucs also outrebounded them 42-35. DCC had 4 players in double digit scoring. Moore High School product Brianna Bergum led the team with 16 points, along with 8 rebounds and 3 steals. Sophomore transfer Olivia Williams had 15 points. Samantha Jenkins scored 13 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 6 assists. Former Class B Tournament MVP Hailee Brandon of Big Timber, MT added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Moving on to the semifinal round, Dawson lost a close battle with eventual champions North Dakota State College of Science. NDSCS defeated Dawson 74-58, but Dawson led at the half 34-30. The Lady Wildcats capitalizes on the Lady Bucs lack of scoring in the 3rd quarter and pulled away, outscoring Dawson 19-12 and 25-12 in the 3rd and 4th quarters respectively. The Lady Bucs allowed tournament MVP Ivane Tensaie to score 34 points, shooting 10-15 from the 3-point line. Ambah Kowcun also poured in 26 points, shooting 18-20 from the foul line. Dawson did score 16 points off turnovers, along with a 10-3 advantage in second chance points, but NDSCS showed a little more aggression, outrebounding DCC 41-38. Freshman impact Eva Kingston led the Bucs with 21 points and 9 rebounds. Samantha Jenkins chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds. Hailee Brandon grabbed 6 rebounds to go along with 6 points.
Playing for 3rd place, Dawson got a scare from United Tribes Technical College, who emerged to be one of the surprise teams in the women’s bracket. The Lady Thunderbirds led Dawson at half 51-44. There were 6 lead changes and 8 ties, but the red and black attack emerged to beat their 8th seeded opponent 83-77. Latosha Thunderhawk of UTTC led the game with a double-double of 27 points and 16 rebounds. However, Dawson had two Lady Bucs with double-doubles. Hailee Brandon had 15 and 11, while Eva Kingston had 15 and 10. New Zealand shooting sensation Samantha Jenkins scored a team high 18 points, along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Logan Stetzner of Anaconda, MT came off the bench to score 14 points and collect 5 rebounds. DCC scored 27 points off turnovers.
The Lady Buccaneers continue their early conference schedule with Dakota College on the road in Bottineau, ND on Thursday, November 11 at 5:30 pm.
