Sports

Jacks struggle at preconference tournament

By Tyler Ohmann

11/15/2011

After the solid 2-0 start at their home tournament last weekend, the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks hoped to ride the momentum into a tough MonDak Preconference tourney in Williston this past weekend.

The hope faded as the Jacks fell in all three of their contests against conference rivals Miles City, United Tribes Community College and Williston State College.

The Jacks started Thursday night by getting upended by Miles City 85-79.
The Jacks played hard and well according to Head Coach Ken Keysor, and were within a point in the first half, but couldn’t capture a win.

“We played very well on both ends of the court, but just couldn’t get over the hump,” Keysor stated. “The Pioneers have an extremely athletic team that caused us some problems in the turnover department.”

Turnovers were a big concern for Keysor, and the Jacks had 22 total and 14 in the second half.

“We had 14 turnovers in the second half and many of them were at crucial times when we were within a basket,” Keysor stated.

The Jacks out shot the Pioneers 47 to 44 percent in the contest, and were 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Cameron Malzer had 18 points and four assists from his starting point guard position. Sophomore Jeremy Chambers (18), James Odneal (13) and freshman Colby Boyes (10) all were in double figures in scoring for the Jacks in the loss.

Odneal and freshman Jadyen McMillin each had six boards. McMillin also had nine points.

“One area that we need to improve on is making sure we take the open shot especially from beyond the three point line,” Keysor stated. “This may sound obvious, but we would rather take a shot than have a turnover because at least we might get a score or foul.”

The Jacks came out hard in their next game against host Williston State trailing by four at the half against a tough Teton team.

“The first half we played reasonably well, but when we felt a few calls went against us we let it affect us mentally and it took us out of our game,” Keysor stated. “We need to understand that we can only control what we do and how we react.”

However, the Jacks were outscored by 21 in the second half and fell 93-68 to the Tetons. Keysor was unhappy with the Jacks performance inside, especially rebounding the ball.

“It appears that we don’t understand on how to aggressively pursue a rebound,” Keysor stated.  “We were out rebounded 27-50 and they had 21 offensive rebounds alone.  That comes down to two things, lack of finding/locating a person to box out and not attacking the ball when it is free.”

Malzer, McMillin and Odneal were again the leaders of the Jacks offense, as they all scored in double digits. Malzer had 13 points, Odneal 12 and seven boards and McMillin had 13 points in the loss.

The Jacks closed out the weekend with another tough defeat against United Tribes. The Jacks played a strong second half, but fell just short 76-73 to the T-Birds.

“Well in all honesty I think we were overlooking the T-Birds.  We were comparing scores and thinking we should be able to get a “W” without showing up,” Keysor stated. “We got down by 15 early in the  first 10 minutes and had to climb out of the hole the rest of the game.”

Malzer had a season-high 29 points, as he hit five three-pointers in the loss. McMillin had 15 and Chambers had 11 points to round out the top scorers for the Jacks in the contest. Odneal had 10 boards to lead the Jacks, but again Keysor was not happy with the rebounding performance of his squad.

“Getting out rebounded 32-46 is embarassing. We didn’t seem to be mentally ready to play at the beginning,” Keysor stated. “I’m not sure if it was a carry over from the second half of the Willliston State game or we just had one of those nights.”

The Jacks shot well again, going 17-of-29 from the field, but Keysor said turnovers played the biggest factor in the loss.

“Finally, 24 turnovers is totally unacceptable,” Keysor stated. “It baffles me to no end how a basketball can hit your hands and you can’t control it--it’s round.”

The Jacks drop to 2-3 on the season after the three-loss weekend.

“We obviously have many things to work on and we have time to work on it,” Keysor stated. “The players need to understand that the burden of becoming a better player requires more than just showing up, it requires hard work and dedication.”

DCB will travel to Wahpeton for another tough tournament next weekend hosted by North Dakota State College of Science. Game times are yet to be determined.

Note: Jacks freshman Tyler Storseth, who went to high school at Des Lacs-Burlington, won the three points contest as part of the preconference festivities.