After winning the Mon-Dak Conference Tip-off Tournament last weekend, the DCC Buccaneers went back on the road to Riverton, Wyoming and swept their two games in the Rustler Classic vs. Region IX teams. On Saturday Dawson took care of the host team Central Wyoming College 91-76. The teams were tied at half-time at 38, but Dawson came out strong in the second half, outscoring the Rustlers 53-38 to move to 5-0 on the young season.
"These were two great games for our group," said Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "It is never easy winning on the road against a good team, but these situations will make us better. We did a better job of playing good defense without fouling tonight. When we take care of the ball and take good shots, we are tough to beat. And it helps to have a lot of different weapons. It seems like every game and even every half, someone different steps up offensively."
The Bucs jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead early on three-pointers by Levi O'Brien and Seth Amunrud. The home team came storming back with a couple of baskets on the other end. CWC built up a seven-point lead at 29-22. Dawson climbed back closer with consecutive lay-ups by Amunrud and Jordan Jasper before Demetric Kindle scored another inside. Dawson went on another mini run when Roniel Oguekwe scored on a hook, followed by Amunrud scoring inside on a sweet pass from Isaiah Miller and then Amunrud found Jasper on the break for a driving lay-up to regain the lead 36-35. The visitors shot it much better in the first half than the Rustlers (48% to 38%), but CWC won the turnover battle (4 to 7) and the offensive rebounding battle (7 to 1). Amunrud led the Bucs in scoring with 14 points and Julian Roberts led CWC with 14 points.
The teams traded baskets to open the second half before Dawson took control of the game with a 25-12 run over the next seven minutes. Ty Buckmon scored in transition, and then Justin Asi made two free throws. Amunrud made a 3-pointer on a pass from O'Brien and Oguekwe scored on another jump hook to put Dawson up 49-40. They never looked back from there. The closest the Rustlers would get the rest of the way was when they narrowed the margin to 51-47. On Dawson's next possession, Kindle rebounded his own miss and put it in. Then Kur Maler threw an alley-oop to Aleksis Nika in transition and Amunrud took a steal length of the court to make an old-fashioned three-point play. Dawson scored 42 points in the first ten minutes of the second half. The Bucs shot 53% in the half and converted 14-20 from the free throw line. They also outrebounded the hosts by 11 in the final twenty minutes and once again dominated the paint 30-16.
Dawson had four guys in double figures, led by Amunrud's 22 points. Asi had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 19 minutes. Jordan Jasper chipped in with 13 points and Aleksis Nika added 11. CWC's Julian Roberts had a game high 26 points and 9 rebounds.
The Bucs will have their home opener next Saturday afternoon against Rocky Mountain College JV.