Sports

DCB men fall by 41 to Bismarck State College in Sub-Region Championship

By Tyler Ohmann

03/06/2012

A 115-74 loss to Bismarck State University in the Sub-Region Championship closed the Dakota College at Bottineau men’s basketball season last Wednesday evening.

The Jacks, who downed United Tribes the previous Sunday to make it to the game, were unable to muster the same magic against the Mystics in Bismarck.

“The wrong team showed up tonight for the Jacks,” stated DCB Head Coach Ken Keysor. “Everything we did so well in Sunday’s game was just the opposite tonight.”

According to Keysor the first few minutes looked promising, but the Jacks eventually allowed 65 first half points and trailed by 37 at halftime.

“The first several minutes were ok and then the roof caved in like at the Metrodome,” Keysor stated. “We missed a couple of good looks and then we hit the panic mode with rushed shots and unforced errors.”

The game evened out in the second half with the Mystics outscoring the Jacks 50-46, but by then the damage was unrecoverable and the Jacks fell by their second-worst margin of the season.

Keysor believed the game to be representative of the way the season was for the Jacks.

“This game was truly a microcosm of our season,” Keysor stated. ‘We were either really focused and played well or we just didn’t seem to be ready to play. Obviously we know what category this game fell into.”

Finishing the season strong for the Jacks in the game were freshman Jayden McMillin, who had a team-best 17 points, and sophomore James Odneal, who had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

McMillin was also named to the All-MonDak second team after his season. He finished with a team-best 16.9 points per game average and also a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game.

“One last congratulations to Jayden McMillin for being named to the All MonDak team this past week,” Keysor stated. “It was an honor that is well deserved.”

The freshman from Melbourne, Australia in part has Keysor optimistic about next season.

“Although the season didn’t end on a very high note we still finish the season with our heads held high,” Keysor stated. “We certainly have some areas of concern that we are looking to address in the recruiting process, but feel we have a solid foundation of freshman that will do what it takes to be successful in the next year.”

Seven sophomore will be moving on from DCB including: Josh Vedaa, Jeremy Chambers, Kody Keysor, second-leading scorer Cameron Malzer, Terrance Williamson, James Odneal and Shawn Kuntz.

DCB finished the season with an 11-21 overall record and a 1-9 record in the MonDak in Keysor’s fourth year as head coach.