The Dawson Buccaneers sealed another Mon-Dak Conference Tip-off Tournament Championship with an 87-81 victory over the North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats. It was the second straight year they won the Tip-off tournament and the 3rd time in 4 years.
"I'm really proud of this group," commented Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "With only three returners, all of these freshmen have come in and worked really hard to learn our system and get ready to play at this level. This is a grueling tournament to play on back-to-back to back days. We kept up the energy the whole time and stayed together throughout. This is a fun team to coach and a fun team to watch. It is a great start to the season, but it is only the start. We are going to keep learning and keep growing."
Similar to the first two nights, Dawson took control of the game in the first half building a 24-point lead at one point. The Wildcats closed out the half with a run of their own to pull within 15 points at 44-29 going into the break. Ty Buckmon was the catalyst again, scoring 12 points on four 3-pointers in the opening half. Dawson forced nine turnovers and scored 16 points off those turnovers. The Bucs shot 56% from the field and 50% from long range while holding NDSCS to 39% from the field and 22% from long range.
North Dakota Science came out of the half battling hard. It was their turn to shoot well, connecting on 55% shooting from the field and 50% from the 3-point line. Their defense also tightened, holding DCC to 33% shooting from the field and 29% from the 3-point line. The Bucs still managed to score 43 points in the second half by making 19-26 from the free throw line. Justin Asi was a key performer in the final twenty minutes for Dawson, scoring 13 points, including shooting 9-13 from the free throw line.
Buckmon also scored 14 more to finish with 26 points. Those free throws came in handy for Dawson as they held off the pesky Wildcats down the stretch to preserve the six-point victory and claim the title.
The final stats were pretty balanced in regard to turnovers, shooting percentages, and paint points, but Dawson had a nine-rebound advantage on the boards.
Buckmon led four double digits scorers for Dawson with a game high of 26 points. He was awarded the Tournament MVP trophy at the conclusion of the game. Asi finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds. Seth Amunrud contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds. Jordan Jasper had 12 points on 5-6 shooting to go along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ja'Quan Ingram led NDSCS with 16 points. Newbern added 15 and Detavius Frierson had 13.
Dawson is now 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the Mon-Dak Conference. Next weekend they will travel to Riverton, Wyoming to play Central Wyoming College and Western Wyoming College.