Sports
Jacks drop home game, slow second half momentum
Tyler Ohmann
01/15/2013
After a pair of wins on the road the Dakota College at Bottineau men’s basketball team came into their second half home opener last Friday with some confidence. However, confidence isn’t always the best thing for a new team, especially when they play a strong team like Dakota County Technical College (DCTC).
“We probably would have had a better chance coming into the game with a loss than two wins, to be honest,” said Jacks head coach Cory Fehringer. “When you’re young and you get a couple of wins, some times you think things are going to come easy for you.”
The Jacks played well to start the game, as they were within five points throughout much of the first half.
However, DCTC made a run right before half to take a 13-point lead.
“When you run into a team like Dakota County they are very athletic, you have to continue to play with high energy, and the first 10-12 minutes we did a good job of matching that,” Fehringer said. “Eventually we got a little worn down, a little tired, and when you get physically fatigued you get mentally fatigued, and we kept making mental mistakes over and over.”
The Jacks played better offensively in the second half as they scored 42 points to close out the game. DCTC ran away with a 97-75 win though as they had 51 second half points.
Nick Sabatke led all scorers with 31 points, all off the bench for DCTC.
The Jacks were led by sophomore Jayden McMillin, who had 19 points, and also added seven rebounds.
In total DCTC had five players in double figures, while DCB had only three in double figures. Those included freshman Billy Engel (14) and Kristoff Walker (11). Walker and Engel each added six assists for the Jacks.
Perhaps the biggest thing that the Jacks took away from the game though was the knowledge of what they need to do to get better.
“We have to learn from them (mistakes),” Fehringer said. “It’s 10 games into the season and it’s a new team, new leadership, new concepts and it’s still early and we’re still trying to figure some things out.”
They very well might see DCTC again in the region playoffs, so they are hoping the loss teaches them a lesson.
“Going into it we knew it would be a great measuring stick, win or lose, it was a great way to see where we are at right now,” Fehringer said. “We need to be more aggressive against zones, they showed zone the majority of the time, so we have to deal with that more readily and with more maturity.”
“We have to play faster, but make slower decisions,” Fehringer added.
That lesson will include maturity, discipline and watching themselves on film according to Fehringer.
“When we played teams that weren’t as athletic or as good as Dakota County, we fared well,” Fehringer said. “But our goal is to be at the highest level and with the best teams, so this was a good way to look at ourselves, watch film and see what we’re good at, what we’re poor at and how do we get better.”
Overall the Jacks are 7-6 on the season, while averaging 80.7 points per game.
Their next game is scheduled for Jan. 17 as they travel to Bismarck to play the rival Mystics of Bismarck State College at 8 p.m. Jan. 18 the Jacks will play in Ellendale, N.D. against Trinity Bible College. DCB rounds out it’s road trip with a rematch against DCTC in Minneapolis, Minn.