Sports
No. 17 Lumberjacks tear down opponents
Tyler Ohmann
12/17/2013
Things continued to roll for the Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) men’s basketball team in the final week before semester break.
That’s because the Jacks win total climbed to 15 after a pair of big time victories over North Dakota foes.
DCB’s offense went off last Tuesday in a 111-71 victory over Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC), and their defense showed it’s strength in an 88-56 win over Jamestown JV last Friday.
To top that off the Jacks are ranked No. 17 in the nation in the Division II National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA).
“I would be a liar if I said the plan was to go 15-2 to begin the season leading to the accomplishment of becoming ranked No. 17 in the nation,” stated Jacks head coach Corey Fehringer. “This ranking means absolutely nothing as it pertains to our overall objective, but it is a vote of confidence for the student-athletes who have traveled a long way from home to attend Dakota College in a small town called Bottineau.”
Last Tuesday the Jacks used a 66-point second half to take down TMCC by 40 points. DCB led by only three at the break, but the second half scoring surge earned them the blowout win.
Six players for DCB scored in double figures in the win, led by freshman Jalyn Turner’s 18 points. Jake Arck had a career-high 14 points.
Others in double figures included Billy Engel (13 points), Xavier Cruz (11 points) and Wesley Harrison and Gilberto Shojgreen (10 points each).
Shojgreen added a team-best seven boards.
Harrison gives the credit for the team’s successes thus far to his coaches.
“I say everything happened because of the coaching,” Harrison said. “Coach he is going to be on us, and make us run, and don’t nobody want to run.”
DCB earned another win, this time at home, and by a different way.
A stifling defense forced 17 turnovers and held the Jamestown JV Jimmies to 56 points and under 40 percent shooting.
Offensively the Jacks were strong too, having fun with several dunks, alley oops and strong drives to the hoop.
“We have fun every time that we come to practice,” Harrison said. “We all get along well, and it helps because then we know how to play well with each other.”
Harrison led the Jacks with a career game in which the freshman had 18 points and six rebounds. He hit 7-of-8 from the field.
Sophomore Julian Vasquez had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also added five assists.
Turner added 15 points and Arck again played strong hitting all five of his shot attempts for 12 points.
Fehringer is proud of how the team has played in the 15-2 start to the season.
“We chose to embark on this journey together, and we are a long ways away from the finish line but these young men are quickly growing to become bigger than a basketball team,” Fehringer stated. “Each and every day these players pleasantly surprise me through their unselfish play, knack for cracking personal jokes without taking it personal, ability to deal with confrontation and lastly the fact no player believes they are more important than the team.”
DCB opens the second half of their season after the holiday break at a tournament in Thief River Falls, Minn. on Jan 3-4. The Jacks will play a pair of games on the two days as part of the Northland Community and Technical College Invite.
As far as that second half goes Harrison believes that the team needs to continue to believe in their coach.
“We just need to keep listening to coach, and really buy into the system,” Harrison said. “If you buy into the system we can do well.”
Harrison is happy with the performance of the Jacks’ offense, but believes the defense will really pick up in the second half of the year.
“I believe our defense will pick up, but our offense is already there,” Harrison said. “We run our sets, we’ll score, so defense is what we need to work on.”
Notes:
DCB is led on offense through the first 17 games by Vasquez who is averaging 15.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.
The freshman Cruz has a team-best 2.1 assists/turnover ratio and 2.3 steals per game as well as 12.8 points per game.
Turner is averaging 10.9 points per game and is shooting 42.3 percent from beyond the arc.