Dawson Bucs Hang On to Beat Northwest College
It wasn't a typical Buccaneer basketball game, but the Dawson men did what they needed to late in the first half to take the lead and controlled the game throughout the second half, coming away with a 79-72 win over the Northwest College Trappers and sweeping the season series. Both teams shot 48% from the field for the game and they each made 13 free throws. Turnovers and rebounds were pretty much even as well. The biggest difference statistically that separated DCC and NWC on Saturday afternoon was that DCC shot 54% (14-26) from the three-point line and NWC made only 16% (3-18).
The first half was very tight throughout with the lead going back and forth ten times. The largest lead either team had was four points. Northwest was ahead 6-2 in the early going and Dawson made a late surge to lead by four at the end of the half after Seth Amunrud scored Dawson's last eight points with a jump shot and two from beyond the arc. The first two were off assists from Jordan Jasper. The last one was on an assist from Brandon Hymes. The Trappers were scoring in the paint and Dawson was scoring beyond the three-point line, going 8-14 in the half with five different guys getting in the act. Amunrud's mini 8-3 run to end the half helped Dawson go from down one to up 33-29 at the half.
Dawson was still up 40-36 three minutes into the second half when the Bucs Justin Asi made 3-pointers on four straight possessions to stretch the lead to 52-38. After that barrage from Asi, Dawson went four straight minutes without scoring again. Ade Onaleye broke the drought by making consecutive lay-ups. The Bucs still kept a double digit lead most of the way until the final five minutes when Colin Hayes made two free throws and then got a dunk to pull the Trappers within seven points at 62-69. The lead fluctuated between 6-11 points over the next three minutes and the outcome was never really in doubt. Jordan Jasper made four free throws and Seth Amunrud made two in the last minute to give Dawson a ten point advantage before Tate Monroe made a 3-pointer at the buzzer for NWC to make the final score 79-72. Even though Northwest made 50% (15-30) from the field in the second half and 92% from the free throw line (11-12), they only made 2 of 10 from beyond the arc.
"Northwest is a good team and well coached," shared Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "They play hard and they play smart. They are long and skilled. They definitely slowed us down and made the possessions longer so we didn't get as many possessions as we normally do in a game, but I thought we took advantage of what they gave us and made the most of it. Although we turned it over too much and didn't rebound like we are capable of, we still found a way to get the lead and control the game."
Dawson was outrebounded for the first time all season, 32-35 overall and 11-12 on the offensive glass. Fortunately, the Bucs shot it well from long range which made up for the other deficiencies.
Seth Amunrud had a great all-around game for the Bucs with 21 points and a game high 8 rebounds to go along with 4 assists and 4 steals. Justin Asi had 18 points and went 5-5 from beyond the arc. Jordan Jasper finished with 11 points. Kaden Christensen led Northwest with 21 points.
Northwest drops to 9-5 on the season and Dawson moves to 10-1. The Bucs will host Gillette College next Friday at 6:00 pm and then Casper College on Saturday at 6:00 pm. Gillette is 12-0 on the season and handed Dawson their only loss so far 113-101 on November 16 in Gillette. Casper is 11-2 on the season and have won five straight games.
