On Friday night, the DCC Buccaneers let a 19 point lead dissipate before hanging on for a 2 point victory. The Bucs weren’t about to let that happen again on Saturday. This time around they started strong and then seemed to keep getting stronger as the game wore on. Salish Kootenai has played a tough early season schedule facing a lot of Frontier Conference teams on the road. Last night they lost a hard fought 19 point game to Dickinson State. The Bucs showed no pity on their visitors as they built a 21-8 lead in a well-balanced attack. The visitors tried to claw their way back into the game by cutting the deficit to single digits at 25-16, but that was the closest they would get all night long. David Shepard hit another three-pointer three seconds before the end of the half to give the Bucs their largest lead of the opening half 49-24. Brent Finn led the scoring for the Bucs with 13 points including 3 of 6 from 3-point range and David Shepard added 11 points including 3 of 5 from the 3-point line. Nine of the Bucs scored and pulled down a rebound in the first half with Reece Green leading the rebounding numbers with 6. The Bucs outrebounded Salish 30-18, including 10 offensive boards. They also shot 46% from the field, 42% from 3-point range and 78% from the free-throw line while limiting Salish to 28% shooting.
The Buccaneers slowly increased their lead with a balanced attack. All fourteen Buccaneers in uniform scored 4 points or more and everyone except 1 gathered a rebound. Six players scored in double figures for the home team, led by Finn’s 17 and followed by Tyrell Harper’s 14, Aaron Frost’s 13, Simon Falokun’s 12, Shepard’s 11 and Taylan Barrett’s 10. Barrett finished with 9 rebounds to lead the team. The Bucs blistered the nets in the second half for 77 points on 60% shooting from the field to finish the game with a 54% clip. They outrebounded Salish 59-34 and only turned it over twice in the second half. The Buccaneers scored 77 points off the bench, 48 points off of 3-pointers and 15 second chance points.
DCC Coach Joe Peterson was pleased with the effort, “I thought we played a great team game, sharing the ball, making the extra pass and staying focus for the entire 40 minutes. I think our guys had something to prove after what happened the night before. If we can play with that effort and teamwork, we will be tough to beat.”
The Bucs are now 4-0 on the young season and continue with their string of 7 games in 11 days by playing Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm vs. Rocky Mountain College JV and again at home on Wednesday night against Miles Community College. Rocky Mountain College JV defeated Jamestown College JV 89-59 earlier in the day.