Sports

Jacks cannot top Tetons, streak ends

By Bottineau Courant Staff

01/21/2014

The Dakota College at Bottineau (DCB) men’s basketball team both extended and ended their winning streak this past week.

First last Monday the Lumberjacks outlasted the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) Thunderbirds 90-82 to win their ninth straight game. Then last Thursday the win streak ended as the Williston State College (WSC) Tetons topped the Jacks 110-94 in Williston.

Last Monday the Jacks hosted the Thunderbirds, and took them down thanks to a balance scoring attack in the second half.

The T-Birds had only five players (one fouled out with 2:27 to go), but built a lead over the Jacks and led by four at halftime.
It did not take the Jacks long to get back ahead as they began the second half on a 15-3 run to take an eight point lead. The lead would remain that way in the end as the Jacks won their ninth straight.

DCB narrowly out shot the T-Birds 52.1 percent to 49.2 percent, but out rebounded them mightily 46-26.

It was a bit sloppy for the Jacks though in the contest as they turned the ball over 20 times to the T-Birds’ 13.

DCB was led by Xavier Cruz’s 16 points off the bench. Freshman Jalyn Turner had 15 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Julian Vasquez had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Wesley Harrison added 12 points. Gilberto Shojgreen played effectively, scoring eight points in under 12 minutes of play, which included a highlight alley oop.

Andre Clark had 23 and Jerel White had 21 for the Thunderbirds in the losing effort.

With a perfect MonDak record the Jacks looked to continue their streak last Thursday against WSC.

However, the Tetons (18-4, 2-0) had other ideas and quickly built a lead, which the Jacks couldn’t come back from. The Tetons led by eight at halftime, and after 61 second-half points won the game by 16.

DCB trailed by just six points with about three minutes left, but couldn’t erase the deficit and were forced to try and foul to regain some ground, but the Tetons shot well from the line.  

Six Tetons scored in double figures led by Trey Dickerson, who had 26 points and seven rebounds.

WSC shot a scorching 56.1 percent from the field, while the Jacks shot just 47.6 percent. It was the first time since a Dec. 10 win over Turtle Mountain Community College that the Jacks shot under 50 percent as a team. That was seven games ago. It was also the first time all season that the Jacks defense allowed a team to shoot above the 50 percent mark from the field.

Vasquez  led the Jacks with 29 points, thanks to a 19-for-21 showing from the charity stripe. The teams combined to shoot 79 shots from the free throw line, and Turner fouled out for the Jacks after scoring 22 points.

Cruz added 12 points off the bench, and Shojgreen had 10 points.
DCB who is 19-3 overall and 2-1 in MonDak play continued their conference schedule at 8 p.m. on Thursday as they travel to play North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. The Jacks return home next Monday to play at 7 p.m. against Lake Region State College.

DCB also played at Canadian Mennonite University last night, but scores and stats were unavailable.