The Dawson Community College Buccaneers faced off against North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats Saturday night in the semifinals of the Mon-Dak Conference Pre-season Tournament at 4-Bears Events Center in New Town, North Dakota.
Dawson overcame North Dakota State College of Science's Noble Cooper's 34 points in 40 minutes by having a balanced attack with five guys in double figures and ten guys getting in the scoring column. The Bucs started the game out on fire from the three point line going 7 of 13 in the 1st half. The Bucs defense helped them get a 21 point lead with 7 minutes remaining in the 1st half. The Wildcats were eventually able to get things going from mid-range and behind the arc to pull within 6 points going into the locker room.
In the second half, Dawson again built a double digit lead only to let NDSCS come back and take the lead with six minutes to go, but the Bucs made key plays down the stretch to overcome the hot shooting of Cooper. Camron Dunfee led the way for the victors with 16 points including two clutch shots in the final three minutes to wrestle the lead back. Dunfee was followed closely behind by Beau Santistevan's 14 points on a perfect night from the field. Man Man Baker also had 14 points to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Kolten Hitt scored 13 and CJ Nelson had 12 points. Charles Lampten had 7 points, 8 rebounds and 4 big blocks. Khari Broadway contributed 16 points for NDSCS. The Bucs were able to seal the deal for an 85-81 win by shooting 50% from the field and 55% from behind the arc. Defense was the difference though as they held NDSCS to 43% shooting and forced them into 20 turnovers which led to 27 points.
Head coach Joe Peterson said, “I was really proud of the poise our guys showed. They never panicked and just stayed solid throughout. We took care of the ball in the second half and made the plays they need to against a good team.”
The Bucs will face Williston State College in the Championship Game on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm CST. The game will be live streamed at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/lrsc/portal.htm?eventId=562838&streamType=video