Sports
Jacks losing streak extends to eight
Tyler Ohmann
02/07/2012
Three losses including two against MonDak teams have the Dakota College at Bottineau men’s basketball team reeling.
The Jacks’ skid actually began with a Jan. 7 loss to Northland Community College and has turned into an eight game losing streak.
It was extended to eight games this week with losses to Lake Region State College (LRSC), North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU).
The Jacks week began last Monday with a 96-84 loss to LRSC in Devils Lake.
In the game the Jacks led by four at halftime, but allowed 55 second half points to suffer a 12-point defeat.
Despite the loss Head Coach Ken Keysor thought the game was an improvement for the Jacks.
“We took a step in the right direction tonight,” Keysor stated. “Although the ultimate goal is to get better each night, it is frustrating to our athletes and coaches that our improvement has not been rewarded with a ‘W.’”
Leading the Jacks were Jayden McMillin (24 points, nine rebounds) and sophomores James Odneal (17 points, seven rebounds), Jeremy Chambers (16 points) and Cameron Malzer (10 points).
Keysor stated his thoughts about the Jacks play in the game.
“Although for the most part we were pleased, we still take too many ‘me’ shots instead of ‘we’ shots.” Keysor stated. “We believe the premise is clear that we certainly have players that need to play up to their capability each night, but by the same token they must also recognize that they can contribute in more ways than just scoring.”
Thursday’s game went as well if not better as the Jacks hung with the 12th ranked team in Division I NJCAA the NDSCS Wildcats.
The Jacks actually led the Wildcats (22-2) 39-36 at halftime and by as much as 11 points in the first half.
However, the Wildcats began shooting hot from the three-point line in the second half and made 10-of-24 from the beyond the arc in the game and 55 percent from the floor to finish with a 16-point win.
“We were pleased with our defensive effort with one exception: we didn’t want them to beat us beyond the three-point line, but they made (them),” Keysor stated. “That is unacceptable, we knew who their shooters were we just didn’t anticipate getting to them quick enough.”
“To be a good defensive team you need to think like an offensive player, that may sound simplistic, but at the end of the day that is what sports are, taking care of the little simple things to make a team successful.”
McMillin was again atop the stat chart for DCB as he finished with team-high’s in points (23) and rebounds (13).
Also in double figures for the Jacks were Chambers (14), Odneal (12) and Malzer (11).
During the Kevin Thom Classic on Nov. 4 the Jacks beat CMU 103-81 for their first victory of the year, but last Saturday CMU turned the tables on DCB with a 96-67 win over the Jacks that had Keysor thinking about going back to the drawing board.
“We do know this, it will be going back to black and white. Either you’re playing well and playing right or you are sitting,” Keysor stated. “We were bad. Defensively we were lazy, offensively we were pathetic.”
The Jacks fell behind by 32 at halftime allowing a season-worst 62 points in the first half.
“CMU played extremely well. In fact Coach Coss said it was the best they have ever played. Well in all honesty, our ineptness had something to do with it,” Keysor stated. “To say that I’m totally frustrated as a coach would be a gross understatement. We go from playing the No. 11 in the nation tough as heck and then lay an egg like this.”
Colby Boyes had 16 points off the bench to lead the Jacks. Odneal had 14 points and seven rebounds.
Colt Mavity had six points and eight boards.
The three losses extended the Jacks losing streak to eight games and dropped them to 8-15 overall on the season.
The losses to LRSC and NDSCS kept them win less at 0-5 against MonDak opponents.
Next up for the Jacks are two road games against tough conference opponents. The Jacks began with a game last night against Williston State, but stats were unavailable at press time.
DCB also travels to Bismarck to take on the Mystics at 8 p.m., Thursday.