(Editor's note: DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE - It was a cold night in Glendive, but hot inside the Toepke Center as the Lady Buccaneers basketball team throttled United Tribes Technical College 106-44. All but two players scored for the Dawson Community College women.
Dawson is now 5-2 in conference, and 6-2 overall. They are in a 2nd place tie with Bismarck State College. The two programs will face off this Thursday, February 18th in Bismarck, ND.
The Lady Bucs also hosted their 7th annual Play 4Kay Pink Night, fundraising for breast cancer awareness and research. Coach Romeo Lagmay, Jr. on tonight’s win, “Besides another great team win, and another strong step in team cohesiveness all-around, there was a bigger cause happening in Play 4Kay. We were all glad to take part in a serious campaign, joining girls and women’s basketball teams all across the country for the month of February. We appreciate our campus and community for being involved in the yearly event.”
United Tribes suited up 8 players. Latosha Thunderhawk led her team with 13 points, along with 7 rebounds.
For the Lady Bucs, Ashya Klopfenstein led the game with her 4th double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds, along with 3 assists. Sophomore Tamiya Francis had 17 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Former Turner High School standout Sarah Billmayer scored 12 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. Aichatou Camara pumped in 11 points, with 6 rebounds, and 2 steals. Freshman New Zealand product Rashaan Smith also chipped in with 11 points and 3 rebounds in 8 minutes.
Dawson outscored the bench of United Tribes 50-15. They also forced 34 turnovers, gaining 42 points from it. Dawson also had 27 second chance points to UTTC’s 7.
DCC's men started relatively slow but went on to win 88-69 over United Tribes moving to 9-0 on the season. It was their 16th straight home win, 19th straight conference home win and 27th straight win against conference opponents.
The visiting T-birds started hot from the field and built a six point lead eight minutes into the game. Kennedy Brown rebounded his own miss and scored inside and then Kell Schwers made a free throw and Michael Jok connected from long range to tie it up. With seven minutes remaining Dawson went on a 10-0 run to turn a one point deficit into a nine point lead. Riley Spoonhunter scored with 47 seconds remaining to give the Bucs a 47-37 advantage at the break. Tate Bear scored 19 points in the first half for United Tribes. Charles Lampten led Dawson with 10 points.
The visitors started the second half strong as well. They had a 12-2 run and pulled even with Dawson at 50-50 on a traditional three point play from Luke Wells Jr five minutes into the second half. Over the next five minutes, DCC outscored UTTC 19-6 to take control of the game. The Thunderbirds hit back once again and pulled within six points, but Kennedy Brown scored the next four points and stretched the lead to double digits, and Dawson closed it out by holding the visitors to just 1 point in the final four minutes of the game.
The Buccaneers' bench made the difference in the game, scoring 54 of the 88 total points. Dawson held UTTC to 35% shooting on the night and forced 20 turnovers, converting them into 20 points. They also outrebounded them 54-43 and outscored them in the paint 28-12.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson said, “I liked the way our guys played tonight. United Tribes competed hard and played well, and our shots weren’t falling, but we adapted and figured out other ways we could be effective. It was a true team effort, but we took advantage of our size and inside play.”
The Buccaneers were led by their two big men, Kennedy Brown and Charles Lampten. Brown had the game high with 14 points on 6-12 FG and nabbed 9 rebounds (6 Offensive). Lampten scored 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots. Jalen Tot added 12 points.
United Tribes' Tate Bear scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Tyree Whitcomb added 16 points to go along with 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Dawson will hit the road this week to play at Bismarck State on Thursday night and then back to back games at 2nd place North Dakota State College of Science on Saturday and Sunday. They will return home next Wednesday for a game with Lake Region State College.
