Record Breaking Shooting Propels Dawson to Big Road Win
The Dawson Buccaneers broke a school record, making 23 three-pointers on Monday afternoon on the road against Lake Region State College. Dawson exploded for 134 points to win 134-88. The 134 points is the third most points ever scored by a Dawson team. The previous record for three's in a game was 18 back on January 12, 2020. Ironically, that previous record was also against Lake Region.
"I loved how we came out of the gate with great intensity and had that look in our eyes," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "They were ready to bounce back after yesterday's dissapointment. Our bench was really into it and gave us great energy all game long. We were not giving up any easy buckets inside on the defensive end and the ball was really moving on the offensive end. Yes, we shot it really well, but I thought we had good shooters taking good shots in good rhythm. It was a lot of fun."
The Buccaneers started the game with a bang. Delray Lilley made the first three-pointer and then Brandon Hymes made a three-pointer and followed it up with a drive and a score. Dawson opened up a double digit in the first five minutes of the game and never trailed in the game. The Bucs stretched the lead to 25 points with 7:24 remaining, but Lake Region got hot from the outside towards the end of the half and cut the deficit to fifteen points at the break, 61-46. Dawson's bench had 39 of the 61 points. The Bucs made 9-21 three's in the first half and the Royals made 7-15. Brandon Hymes was the only player for either team to reach double digits in the first half with 12 points on 5-9 shooting.
After a lackluster start to the second half that saw Lake Region close the gap to only ten points, Dawson got back on track. Brandon Hymes led the way with rebounds, tough buckets inside and keeping the pace up. Dawson scored well in the paint (26 points on 14-26 shooting), but most of their damage came from long range. They went 14-24 in the second half (58%). They finished the game with the biggest flurry, making 9 of their last 11 attempts which included six different people connecting from deep. Ten players made a three-pointer in the game. Mikey Ngoyi and Kuich Gatwech made three from long range while Michael Murphy, Matt Kinzeler and Troy Hugs made four each. All of Hugs' three-pointers came in the last two minutes of the game. He came off the bench and scored 14 points in only three minutes of action to close out the game. Dawson outscored Lake Region 73-42 in the second half.
The Bucs outrebounded the Royals 56-40 and held them to 37% shooting in the second half and 41% for the game. Dawson forced 18 turnovers and scored 25 points off those turnovers. They also outscored Lake Region 52-38 in the paint. And their bench scored a whopping 84 points to the Royals 37.
Nine Buccaneers finished the game in double digits, led by Mikey Ngoyi's 20 points and 4 steals. Hymes finished with 19 points and 9 rebounds. Kuich Gatwech had 15 points and 7 rebounds. Kai Guess had 11 points and a career high 9 rebounds. Zakai Owens had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Michael Murphy, Matt Kinzeler and Ade Onaleye rounded out the double digit scorers for Dawson.
Jazayah Gates paced five Royals in double figures with 14 points.
Dawson is now 19-8 on the season and 7-2 in Mon-Dak Conference play. They will be back at home next Monday night vs. Williston State College.
