(DCC Athletics release)
GLENDIVE – Defense leads to offense.
Dawson Community College’s basketball men forced 36 turnovers and held Miles Community College Pioneers to 35 percent shooting Monday in an 80-57 win. MCC struggled to beat pressure and get quality shots from start to finish and only scored one field goal in the opening nine minutes.
The Bucs weren’t much better offensively. Two jump shots by Devin Collins and another by Reece Green gave Dawson a 6-2 lead. Joey Lodine scored a 3-pointer at the 10:42 mark to bring Miles within one at 6-5. Miles took the lead on their next possession with a shot by Daquazemarr Wyche. That would be their last lead of the game. The home team went on a 23-5 run to take a commanding 17 point lead over the next six minutes. Stephens finished with 12 points and Collins with 10 points in the half.
The margin didn’t change much in the first five minutes of the second half until Miles went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit within single digits. That was the closest they would get the rest of the way as Dawson countered with a 13-2 run to go up by twenty with a little over ten minutes remaining. The run was capped by a 3-pointer in the corner from Kolten Hitt followed by a steal and strong drive by Hitt, who drew a foul and connected on his two free throws. The largest lead of the night came on another 3-pointer by Jackson with 2:00 to go to give the Bucs a 23 point victory over their rivals.
The Bucs didn’t shoot particularly well, but with the way they defended, they came away with the blowout win. They held the leading scorer for Miles, Gedeon Buzangu, to two points, shooting 0-1 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. They also forced Daquazemarr Wyche into 10 turnovers. Dawson scored 32 points off of the 36 turnovers they forced on the night.
Marcus Stephens led the way with 22 points and Devin Collins contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds. Man Man Baker scored 7 points to go along with 7 rebounds and 3 steals. Wyche finished with 16 points for the Pioneers.
“Our defense seems to keep getting better every day,” said Bucs Coach Joe Peterson. “We held one of the best players in the conference to two points and only one shot on the night. Our big guys really defended well inside. We struggled to hit shots tonight, but when you defend like that, you will always have a chance. Eric Jackson came off the bench and gave us a big lift. Our pressure frustrated them and our offense finally started clicking. I thought we were the aggressors tonight and it showed.”
Dawson moves to 4-2 in the Mon-Dak Conference and Miles drops to 2-4. The Bucs will host United Tribes Technical College on Thursday night. UTTC defeated Dawson in overtime in the pre-season tournament and Dawson got revenge a couple of weeks ago with a win in Bismarck. The Thunderbirds have the two top scorers in the conference in Rob McClain Jr and Montel Carlow. McClain is second in the league with 23 points per game and leading the league in rebounding with 11. He’s also third in field goal percentage and third in 3-point percentage. Carlow is leading the league in scoring with 23.3 and forth in 3-point percentage.
The teams will tip-off at the conclusion of the women’s game at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the Bucs’ annual Barefoot Coaching Night. Fans are encouraged to bring a new pair of shoes or money to donate to help children in the U.S. and internationally who are in need of shoes.
After blowing out Williston State earlier in the week, Dawson’s women got a bitter taste of their own medicine losing 96-50 to MCC. It marked the second win over DCC for Miles Community College.
After the early stage, the closest Dawson would get was 11 points when the score was 24-35 in the second quarter. MCC forced 32 turnovers and capitalized with 33 points from those turnovers. The Lady Pioneers would also get 49 points from the bench, while Dawson had 21. MCC shot a solid 47% from the field and 78% from the foul line. Nothing too staggering about the Lady Pioneers shooting percentages, except that everyone on the team scored. Five scored in double figures. Miles also had 23 steals.
The Lady Bucs had one of their worst shooting nights as they only shot 30% from the field, 54% from the foul line and a dismal 6% from the 3-point line. Only two DCC players were in double figures. Ejanae Coopwood scored a game high 19 points, with 8 rebounds, but committed 5 turnovers. Tasia Moore scored 10 points and collected 5 rebounds. Averaging over 20 points per game in conference, Alexius Foster was held to 4 points and Sarah Miranda only had 2.
“I was not overly concerned about winning,” said head coach Romeo Lagmay. “It was more so that we wanted to see the team fight to protect home court and their teammates. Miles was just plain better than us, and we only fought in spurts. To defeat a team like that, it will take 40 minutes of all-out effort. Hopefully, our team can learn to give a 100 percent in a game like that and then, let the chips fall where they may.”
Dawson will look to bounce back into the win column in conference when they play United Tribes Technical College on Thursday, January 31 at 5:30 p.m.
