United Tribes falls to Dawson on the road
Bucs pull away in the 2nd half
The Buccaneers won their 20th game on Sunday, beating the United Tribes Technical College Thunderbirds 98-76. It is the 5th straight year that Dawson has won 20 games in a season. They now stand at 20-4 overall and 12-3 in conference with 6 games remaining. UTTC drops to 12-9 overall and 6-9 in conference.
"United Tribes is a talented, tough, well-coached team," remarked Dawson Coach Joe Peterson. "They have given us fits every time we've played them this year. When we get a big lead some teams will fold, but others keep fighting. Tribes will always keep fighting. Kose Egbule really gave us a lift tonight. He sparked runs for us in both halves by making some plays defensively and offensively. It's great to have him back healthy and ready for the stretch run."
It was a sluggish start for the home team as they missed some open shots and turned it over a few too many times. The T-birds built a five point lead four minutes into the game after a lay-up from Famous Lefthand, but Dawson finally got it going behind Egbule's offense and stormed back to a take a double digit lead 8 minutes later. Lay-ups, dunks and 3-pointers got the Bucs going and brought the fans to life. The highlight was an alley-oop from Jalen Tot to DeAngelo Horn. UTTC responded back with a mini-run to pull within two points late in the half, but Dawson got a lay-up from Reggie Martin and a 3-pointer by Joe Mpoyo at the buzzer to enter the locker room with a 47-42 advantage. The lead changed hands 7 times in the opening half. Both teams were pretty even, except for Dawson's commanding 27-13 advantage on the boards, including 11 offensive rebounds to Tribes' 2.
The second half began like the first half ended as Kennedy Brown made a jumper and Mpoyo followed with another 3-pointer. Holding a six point advantage, Dawson went on a quick 12-0 run in less than two minutes fueled by three straight steals and capped by back to back 3-pointers from Riley Spoonhunter and Jalen Tot to give Dawson a 68-50 lead with 14 minutes remaining. The closest the visitors got after that was 7 points, but the margin stayed in double digits most of the time as the Bucs cruised to their 35th straight conference home win. Dawson forced 11 turnovers in the second half and continued to dominate the boards, finishing with 50 rebounds compared to UTTC's 24. DCC had a 42-26 advantage in the paint; 23-8 advantage in points off turnovers and 19-4 advantage on 2nd chance points.
Dawson had 5 guys in double figures and a couple guys finished just shy with 9 points. Kennedy Brown, Jalen Tot, and Mpoyo all led Dawson with 14 points each. Brown added 15 rebounds. Michael Jok had a good all-around effort with 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Egbule rounded out the Bucs in double figures, finishing with 10 points and adding 3 rebounds.
The Thunderbirds were led by Famous Lefthand with 21 points and Jayce Archambault who had 16 points on 4-5 shooting from 3.