(DCC release)
POWELL, Wyo. - The Dawson Community College Buccaneers lost two heartbreaking basketball games Saturday to Northwest College, as the men fell in overtime 118-109, while the women surrendered a late lead in a 60-55 defeat.
In the men's game, CJ Nelson scored a lay-up with 4.5 seconds in regulation to give the Buccaneers a two point lead, but after a timeout, Kyle Brown answered back as the final buzzer sounded. The referees signaled the basket counted to tie the game and send it to overtime. Late in the second half, it didn’t look like it would come down to a final shot as Dawson built up an eight point lead, but Northwest hung tough and made it close at the end. The home team took control in overtime by scoring 22 points, mostly from the free throw line.
It was a wild and entertaining game most of the way with both teams playing fast and shooting well. In the first half, Dawson raced out to a 15 point lead over halfway through, but Northwest bounced back to pull within one at halftime, 54-53. Nelson rained in 13 points in the opening 20 minutes for Dawson while Brown netted 18 during that time. Northwest shot 61% from the field in the first half and 50% from the 3-point line. Dawson wasn’t far behind with 59% from the field and 59% from the 3-point line. The Bucs outrebounded them, but had more turnovers.
The second half was a similar storyline as the first. Brown finished the game with 36 points, including 12-14 from the free throw line. DCC’s scoring was more balanced with five guys in double figures, led by Man Man Baker’s 22 points on 10-13 shooting. Nelson was right behind with 21 points. Camron Dunfee added 17 points and Devin Collins finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Both teams shot 56% from the field for the game and close to 50% from the 3-point line. Northwest made 20 free throws compared to Dawson’s 10. The downfall for the Bucs was their 27 turnovers.
Coach Joe Peterson shared his thoughts, “This weekend will make us better in the long run. We faced a lot of adversity and kept fighting hard throughout it all. We will be very battle tested when we start league play in January. I think we went back a few steps defensively this weekend, but I was happy to see our offense come alive. We really pushed the ball and ran the floor well. And it was nice to see a couple of the guys who have been struggling a bit really thrive. This team has a lot of potential.”
The loss drops Dawson to 8-5 on the season. They will come home to play Stone Child College on Saturday, December 14th at 2:00 pm.
Meanwhile, after a thrilling victory over a tough Sheridan College team Friday night, the Dawson women allowed a determined Northwest College to crawl back in the game and outscore the Lady Buccaneers in the fourth quarter 25-10.
Dawson would come out blazing hot in the first quarter with their largest lead of the game in the first few minutes by 13 points. They would be in control for all three quarters, but allowed the Lady Trappers to chip back in one possession at a time, as the Lady Bucs had a season high of 30 turnovers. Northwest had 15 steals and made 16-22 from the foul line.
Dawson was able to outrebound their opponent 52-43, which now has become a major strength for them. The Lady Bucs also had a season high, shooting 37% from beyond the arc. It was too many bad passes by the Lady Bucs that allowed Northwest to gain control of the game in the last quarter.
Ashley Orozco and Haley Olson led DCC in scoring with 12 points apiece. Olson was able to find her scoring punch shooting a solid 4-7 from the three-point line. Ashya Klopfenstein posted a very impressive stat line, scoring 10 points, a game high 19 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Point guard tandem Orozco and Tamiya Francis combined for 11 turnovers. Arena Plenty contributed to Dawson’s nightmare by turning it over 6 times.
Coach Romeo Lagmay was puzzled by today’s outcome, “I didn’t quite understand this game as we came out on fire shooting well from different spots on the court and playing great team defense. We controlled it for 3 quarters, and then we just fell off and started to play no team defense at all. Having 30 turnovers also contributed to Northwest’s success because tonight we just couldn’t pass. That’s supposed to be one of our strengths. But once again, here we are again trying to figure out how to finish some of these close games. I’m confident we will. Play and learn, and move on to the next.”
The Lady Buccaneers will return home for the last time of the year and battle it out on December 14 at 4:00 pm versus the Lady Rams of Little Big Horn College. Dawson will then travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, where they will play 3 games in the College of Southern Nevada Classic against Southern Idaho, Utah State Eastern and Salt Lake.
