Dawson Buccaneers Blitz NDSCS
In what was supposed to be a heavyweight showdown, Dawson held the lead from start to finish, easily handling the visiting NDSCS Wildcats 110-89 on Sunday afternoon in Glendive. It was Dawson's 5th straight win. The WIldcats came in with a 15-2 record and had won their first two conference games by 59 total points. Dawson came in with a 13-6 record.
"Our guys were ready today," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "Our tough non-conference schedule has prepared us well for conference play. We had a good intensity on defense and moved the ball really well on offense all night."
Matt Kinzeler started the game hot by making three from long distance in the opening minutes to help give the Bucs an early 9-3 lead. Kinzeler carried the load for the starters, scoring 18 points on 6-7 shooting from the field and 5-6 from the three point line in the first half. The bench was much more evenly distributed with five different guys scoring at least 5 points in the opening twenty minutes. The Dawson bench scored 41 of their 65 first half points. On the opposite side, only four Wildcats got in the scoring column. NDSCS pulled within two points at 13-11 with 15:42 to go. Dawson went on a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer and lay-up from Zakai Owens, followed by a lay-up from Michael Murphy and another lay-up from Owens. Owens ignited another run. This time it was a 13-2 run that began with another Owens basket and was capped with an basket inside from Aries Lewis that gave Dawson a 51-34 lead. Dawson closed out the half just like they started it, on a couple of Kinzeler three-pointers, along with a three-pointer from Ade Onaleye as well as a couple of jump shots. The Bucs shot a blistering 64.9% in the first half from the field and 66.7% from the three-point line (8-12). Along with their hot outside shooting, Dawson also outscored the visitors in the paint 26-12. The lone bright spot for NDSCS was Cham Okey who pumped in 20 points. Dawson led 65-44 at the break.
Holding a 69-48 lead in the early part of the second half, Dawson stretched their lead to thirty points with an 11-2 run. Kinzeler made a jump shot, Kai Guess got a drive and a score, Kuich Gatwech scored twice inside and Guess made a 3-pointer on an assist from Zakai Owens. Dawson kept their advantage around thirty points for most of the second half until the Wildcats closed the game, outsourcing Dawson 18-10 in the final five minutes. The Bucs again shot 64.5% from the field in the second half, but "cooled" to only 50% from the 3-point line.
For the game, Dawson shot 64.% from the field and 61.1% from the three-point line while holding NDSCS to 38.7% shooting from the field. The Buccaneers had an effective field goal percentage of 71.7% compared to 46.7% for NDSCS. They also outscored the visitors 58-32 in the paint. Dawson had a season high 29 assists on 44 field goals.
Kinzeler had a game high 25 points on 9-10 shooting from the field and 6-7 from the three-point line. Mikey Ngoyi (6-6 from the field) and Ade Onaleye (6-8 from the field) contributed 14 points each. Eleven Buccaneers got in the scoring column and rebounding column. Brandon Hymes finished with 6 assists and 5 rebounds. Delray Lilley had an impressive state line, scoring 0 points, but getting 8 assists and 4 steals in 13 minutes.
Cham Okey only scored two points in the second half, finishing with a team high 22 points in the game for NDSCS.
Dawson will jump right back into action on Monday at 12:00 pm in their "Dribble for a Dream" game against Lake Region State College. They will be welcoming nearly 1,000 school children for the game as they honor Martin Luther King Jr Day.