December 4, 2021
DCC Men Put Away Western Nebraska
The Dawson Community College Buccaneers connected on 14-17 (82%) from the free throw line and forced 25 turnovers en route to a 81-72 win over the Western Nebraska Community College Cougars. It was the nightcap on the first day of the Gillette Border Wars Tournament, pitting Region XIII teams vs. Region IX teams.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson shared, "It was kind of an ugly game and we didn't play very well tonight, but we are happy to get a win against one of the traditional powers in Junior College basketball. A major reason we won was holding their leading scorer, Kong, eight points below his season average. We hadn't played in almost two weeks so maybe we were a little rusty. We will have to play better on Saturday and Sunday."
The Cougars got up by six points in the first eight minutes largely because of Dawson's inability to take care of the ball. The Bucs stormed back and took an eight point lead into half-time. Both teams had double digit turnovers in the first half, but Dawson outshot Western Nebraska 47% to 36%. Nobody was in double figures for either team.
In the second half, Dawson increased their lead to 15 about halfway through, but WNCCC fought back to make it close in the final couple of minutes. DCC's strong free throw shooting staved off the rally and helped them come away with the nine point victory.
Guard Biko Johnson had a game high 20 points for WNCC. Dawson had 12 guys in the scoring column and four in double figures, led by 14 points for Jajuan Tot to go along with 3 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 assists. Twin brother Jalen added 12 points and 3 steals. DeAngelo Horn finished with 13 points and 4 rebounds. Joe Mpoyo had 11 points which included three 3-pointers.
The win moves Dawson to 9-1 on the season. They have a short turnaround before they face off with Casper College at 1:30 pm Saturday in Gillette. They will play Western Wyoming on Sunday afternoon to conclude the tournament.
