The Dawson Buccaneers went on the road and took care of business against the Northwest College Trappers 86-78 on Friday night in Powell, Wyoming. The win boosts Dawson's record to 12-2 on the season. They won't play again until January 5th and 6th when they host Casper College and Gillette College.
The Bucs got up by 13 points midway through the first half but then the Trappers cut into the lead and went into half-time only trailing by five points, 37-32. Dawson turned it over 15 times in that opening half and only shot 38%. Fortunately, Ty Buckmon and Demetric Kindle provided some scoring punch with 14 points and 10 points respectively.
Northwest continued their onslaught after the break, taking a four-point advantage midway through the second half before Dawson responded. Buckmon scored fourteen more points in the second half, including some key buckets down the stretch to give Dawson a little cushion. They stretched the lead to double digits in the closing minutes and converted from the free throw line down the stretch to sweep the season series from Northwest.
"I don't think we played with the kind of effort we needed to tonight," explained Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "Northwest plays hard all the time. There is not too many times you will see the Bucs get outworked, but tonight was definitely one of them. Everybody is gunning for us so we can't afford to take any nights off. It was great to play a closer game and learn how to handle those situations on the road. This will help us get better."
Dawson outrebounded their hosts 11-5 on the offensive glass and 38-28 overall. The shooting
percentages were pretty even and both teams made 29 field goals on the night, but Dawson made three more from long range and five more from the charity stripe to give them the eight-point win.
Ty Buckmon finished with 28 points on 9-14 shooting (2-4 on 3's) and 8-10 from the free throw line. He also added 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Demetric Kindle contributed 13 points and 6 rebounds. Jordan Jasper and Seth Amunrud each scored 11 points. Kolter Merritt led Northwest with 18 points and 14 rebounds.