Dawson Men Wins Mon-Dak Championship
(pictured: Michael Jok)
In a year unlike any other this generation has ever seen and in a season unlike any others, the Dawson Community College Buccaneers clinched their second straight Mon-Dak Conference Championship on Sunday in Bismarck, North Dakota. They dominated the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds 89-64. The Bucs moved to 16-2 in the conference and 17-2 overall, with three games still to play. It was their seventh straight win and puts them four games up on their closest competitor.
Coach Joe Peterson praised his team, “The energy these guys have brought, the sacrifices they have made over the past 6 months, and the work they have put in has paid off. It’s been a crazy year for colleges and college athletics, full of ups and downs. The Mon-Dak Conference has never had a 21 game schedule with everyone playing each other three times. They have shown a lot of toughness to keep scrapping and keep fighting through all of the craziness. They’ve stayed hungry throughout and I don’t think that will change after winning the championship.”
On Sunday, Cordell Stinson got the Bucs off to a good start with a basket on the first possession and Dawson held the lead for the rest of the game. The Bucs forced 10 turnovers and scored 18 points off of them and built up a 27 point lead in the first half. UTTC responded and scored the last 6 points of the half to make the score 49-28 at halftime. Dawson held the Thunderbirds to 31% shooting from the field and 25% shooting from the 3-point line in the half. Jajuan Tot led the way with 14 points and Stinson contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds.
In the second half, Dawson kept control of the game and held United Tribes at bay. The game was never close as Dawson sailed to the 25 point victory. Cordell Stinson posted a career high in points and rebounds with 20 and 12 respectively. He also shot 10-14 from the field and had three monster dunks. Four others were in double figures for the Bucs with JaJuan Tot scoring 16, Michael Jok and Riley Spoonhunter 11 each and Jalen Tot added 10 points.
Dawson returns home to host Williston on Saturday and then will go back on the road for two games with Dakota College Bottineau to close out the regular season the following week.
By winning the conference, Dawson will host all of their Regional Tournament games at home. This year all of the tournament games will be played at the home site of the higher seed. Dawson will get a bye and host the winner of the #4/#5 game on April 1st in the Regional Semifinals. The winner of that will host the Regional Championship game on April 5th.
