Sports

Jacks suffer tough MonDak loss

By Tyler Ohmann

01/31/2012

A back and forth contest against United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck ended in a narrow 79-75 loss for the Dakota College at Bottineau men’s basketball team in their only game of the week last Thursday.

“We played hard and competed very well in a tough place to play,” stated Jacks Head Coach Ken Keysor. “The game was a seesaw battle the whole time.”

The Jacks led by three at halftime, but saw the lead slip away in the final minute. They had a couple chances to tie the game late in the final quarter, but the shots did not fall.

Allowing dribble penetration was the main cause of the defensive lapse according to Keysor.

“We still continue to struggle stopping dribble penetration. I’m not sure if we are that slow or if we just take the defensive side for granted,” Keysor stated. “This is unacceptable because the reason the shooters were open is dribble penetration.”

The Jacks were led by sophomore Cameron Malzer, who had 22 points and seven assists. Also with solid games for the Jacks were Jeremy Chambers (18 points, seven assists), and Jayden McMillin (14 points).

“It seems like we are becoming redundant with the comment of we played hard but ended up on the short end of the score,” Keyor stated. “I’m getting tired of “moral victories” and it’s time we put up or shut up.”

The loss to MonDak rival UTTC dropped the Jacks to 8-13 overall and 0-3 in the conference.

DCB played Lake Region State College last night in Devils Lake, but stats were unavailable by press time.

The Jacks will play twice more this week starting with an 8 p.m. start on Thursday against the North Dakota College of Science at the Woodshed. They will also travel to Winnipeg to take on Canadian Menonite University on Saturday afternoon.