DCC Gets Nation Leading 14th Win of the Season
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers won their 14th game of the season which is the most in the country for NJCAA Division I teams. They handed Dakota College Bottineau an 86-74 loss on Wednesday night. It was their 22nd straight home win against conference opponents.
Coach Joe Peterson shared his insights, "I don't think we are playing as well as we are capable of playing right now. Sometimes success can lead to complacency and I think we have some of that at this point in the season. We need to get back to the basics and remember what has led to our success and be hungry to get better every day. We are nearing the home stretch of the season and need to push hard to play our best basketball at the end of the season and be ready for a good run in the post-season."
Midway through the first half, Dawson went on a 12-3 run capped by a steal and a dunk by Reggie Martin to give the home team a 21-13 lead. Dakota College caught back up at 25-25 on a layup by Dongrin Dang and then took the lead a few seconds later on another layup by Trayvon Barney. It was nip and tuck the rest of the half with the visitors holding a one point advantage at the half 37-36. The Lumberjack shot a sizzling 53% from the field, but turned it over 16 times in the first twenty minutes, leading to 17 points for Dawson. Erik Palmer had a big first half for Dakota College with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
DCB started the second half well on another lay-up by Palmer and a 3-pointer by Barney. They were up four points with one minute gone in the half when Dawson answered back with a 12-2 run. The Bucs got two baskets in that run by hitting the offensive glass and getting tip-ins; one by Reggie Martin and one by Kennedy Brown. DCC kept a healthy advantage for the rest of the way. The closest the Lumberjacks would get was a three point deficit with five minutes remaining, but Dawson gradually built on their lead and four free throws by Michael Jok helped close out the game and give them the twelve point win.
Dawson continued their disruptive defense by forcing 23 turnovers on the night and held the visitors to 36% shooting in the second half. Free throws kept the Lumberjacks in the game as they shot 15-16 in the second half. DCC outscored DCB 48-30 in the paint, 24-9 on points off turnovers, 17-7 in second chance points and a whopping 46-0 off the bench. There were 7 ties and 6 lead changes.
The Buccaneers had five players in double digits, and were led by Reggie Martin's 17 points, 8 rebounds (5 offensive), and 2 steals. JaJuan Tot added 13 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Both Michael Jok and Kennedy Brown added 12 points each and combined for 12 rebounds. Charles Lampten contributed 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Dakota College at Bottineau's Trayvon Barney had a game high 25 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and dished out 7 assists. Erik Palmer made a big impact for the Lumberjacks as he finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds.
Dawson will continue conference play at home Sunday against their rival Miles Community College at 4:00 pm.
