Sports

Jacks take two at Lake Region Classic

Bottineau Courant Staff

11/13/2012

A two-for-three road trip to Devils Lake over the blustery weekend improved the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) Lumberjacks basketball team to 4-1 overall in the early part of the season.

First on Thursday the Jacks ousted a tough Jamestown Jimmies JV team 80-72. On Friday things did not go as well for the Jacks as they fell 87-69 to Miles City Community College, a MonDak foe. The weekend concluded on a high note though as the Jacks roughed up the Lake Region Alumni 100-77.

The weekend proved to be the emergence of a leader for the Jacks in many ways as sophomore Jayden McMillin was a big part in the Jacks success over the weekend.

First against the Jimmies McMillin led all scorers with 30 points. The forward, from Australia, also managed to grab a team-best 13 rebounds, five of them offensive, as he shot 11-for-19 on the day.

The Jacks fell behind early in the contest and trailed by eight at halftime. However, DCB stepped it up in the second half to force overtime. In the extra period the Jacks dominated outscoring the Jimmies 16-8 to get their third straight win.

Also strong in the win for DCB were freshman guards Kristoff Walker (19 points) and Billy Engel (16  points, seven assists).

Despite the win, the Jacks didn’t shoot well from beyond the arc going 3-for-20 from downtown. They did however, force 18 turnovers and held Jamestown to 42.9 percent shooting from the field.

While the Jacks improved from three in Friday’s game against Miles City, the effort from long range was not enough to slow down the Pioneers, who wound up with an 18-point 87-69 win.

McMillin was again strong for DCB in the loss, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 boards, while swiping three balls. The sophomore was also 11-for-13 from the free throw line. However, the only other Jack in double figures was Engel, who had 15 points in the loss.

Five Pioneers scored in double figures led by Aleksandar Ivkovic’s 20, which sent Miles City to win. The Pioneers out shot DCB 55.2 percent to 38.5 percent in the game.

DCB rebounded nicely in Saturday’s 100-77 win over the Lake Region Alumni.

The Jacks jumped out to an early lead, and held a 50-40 advantage at the break. DCB piled it on in the second half and wound up with a 23-point win.
McMillin again led the Jacks with 28 points, but others helped as the Jacks breezed past Lake Region.

Sophomore (and also from Austrialia) Ben Veith grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds, including six offensive boards.

Three other Jacks were in double figures: Walker regained his scoring with 22 points and a team high seven assists; sophomore Tyler Storseth scored 17, while Engel had 13 points and five steals. Also logging 23 minutes off the bench was Dashomoe McCarty, who had five points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Jacks played a disciplined game turning the ball over only seven times, while forcing 20 turnovers. DCB also shot 11-for-25 from beyond the arc for a strong 44 percent, an improvement from Thursday’s game and Friday’s loss.

DCB improved to 4-1 with the two win, one loss week at the Lake Region Invite. They will next play at 8 p.m., Thursday at home against Dawson Community College. After that MonDak game, the Jacks will play in Wahpeton against Trinity Bible College and Northeast Community College in an early season tournament.

Note:

  •  McMillin is currently averaging 24.8 points and nine rebounds per game, while shooting 57.3 percent from the field in five games.