Dawson Jumps on United Tribes Early and Cruises
The Dawson Buccaneers jumped out to an early 11-0 lead in Bismarck on Sunday afternoon and never looked back, beating the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds 109-70. The Bucs forced 27 turnovers and outrebounded UTTC 63-38 for the game. The win bumps Dawson's overall record to 17-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play.
"We came out of the gates with good defensive intensity and shot the ball well early on," commented Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "We are pretty tough to beat when we do those things and rebound the way we did tonight. I loved how free and unselfish we played on offense. We have a lot of weapons, so when the ball finds the open guy, then good things usually happen."
After missing the past two games with an injury, Seth Amunrud returned with a bang, getting the offense going with a putback and then a driving lay-up. Ade Onaleye scored inside on a pass from Brandon Hymes, and then Hymes connected from beyond the arc. Kur Maler came in and got a transition lay-up to give Dawson the early 11 point advantage before the Thunderbirds scored their first points. The visitors built a 42-18 advantage and eventually went into intermission leading 56-35. In the first twenty minutes, Dawson had 17 assists on 22 field goals. They also collected 17 offensive rebounds. Maler ignited the attack with 14 points, going 3-3 from long range. Amunrud also contributed 12 points, going 5-6 from the field and 2-3 from 3-point range. The Bucs made 8-17 from beyond the arc and held United Tribes to 4-17.
In the early stages of the second half, UTTC cut the lead to 16 points, but that was the closest they would get the rest of the night. Dawson continued to dominate the glass and continued to force turnovers as they sailed to their fourth straight win and remained undefeated in conference play. The overall field goal percentages weren't much different as Dawson shot 44% for the game and United Tribes shot 41%, but everything else ended in Dawson's favor. The Bucs finished with 35 offensive rebounds and took 28 more shots in the game (98-70).
Amunrud finished with a game high 29 points on an efficient 12-16 from the field and 5-7 from 3-point range. He also grabbed 7 rebounds, dished out 6 assists and had 3 steals. Justin Asi had 20 points and 9 rebounds. Kur Maler also had 20 points. Matt Kinzler rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points on a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. Houston Davis led UTTC with 16 points.
Dawson will remain on the road to play Bismarck State College on Monday night at 7:30 pm CST.
