Jan 15, 2024
After a two point loss in Wahpeton on Sunday, the Dawson Buccaneers lost by one point at United Tribes Technical College on Monday night. The visitors jumped out to a 22-8 lead early on, sparked by two 3-pointers from Justin Asi and one from Levi O'Brien. The Thunderbirds responded to tie it up at half-time. The second half was close throughout and the Bucs couldn't hang on to a five point lead in the final two minutes. Dawson falls into second place in the conference with an 8-2 record. United Tribes improves to 5-5 in the conference.
"Honestly, it was a pretty heart-breaking weekend," said Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "These are two of the best teams in our league and we had decent leads in the final two minutes on the road and couldn't finish it off. They hit some tough shots down the stretch on both nights. We need to focus on doing more of the little things for forty minutes and it can make a world of difference. It is not an easy pill to swallow right now, but we know it will make us better in the long run."
Dawson had smooth sailing early on until Jacolby Pearson heated up for UTTC. He connected on five three pointers in route to a 7-9 shooting performance and 22 points in the first twenty minutes. Ty Buckmon went coast to coast and made a driving lay-up at the buzzer to tie the score at 39 going into the break. Dawson turned it over twelve times in the first half.
The second half brought three ties and six lead changes as the teams battled back and forth. Dawson had a firm hold on the game in the closing minutes until Trae Hugs and Cayden Redfield both connected from long range to give UTTC a 79-78 lead. After Ty Buckmon made 1 of 2 free throws to tie the game up, Dawson fouled the Thunderbirds, sending them to the line. They missed the front end of the one and one, but collected the rebound and got fouled again. This time Houston Davis made one to give them the lead and Dawson didn't get a shot off in the final four seconds.
The big difference in the game came from the 3-point line where United Tribes shot 42% (13-31) compared to Dawson's 24% (6-25). The other statistical categories were pretty even.
Pearson scored a game high 26 points and Cayden Redfield added 22 for the Thunderbirds. Justin Asi led Dawson with 16 points. Jordan Jasper contributed 14. Ty Buckmon finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Buccaneers are now 15-4 on the year and their next game will be at Williston on Sunday.