Buccaneers pull away from Royals late in Mon-Dak Conference action

Article by Harry Lipsiea, Devils Lake Journal Sports, February 9th, 2017.

Dawson Community College kept the Lake Region State College men's basketball team away from its goals Wednesday evening. With their sights set on becoming close to cementing itself as the second-seeded team for the playoffs and picking up win no. 19, the Royals were unable to taste victory at the Devils Lake Sports Center.

The Buccaneers won nearly every statistical category on way to an 83-73 triumph. Dawson won the rebounding battle 48-to-41, had 13 turnovers compared to LRSC's 19 and shot 40 percent from the field as its opponent finished at 37 percent.

"Credit to Dawson. They were the tougher team tonight," Jared Marshall, second-year head coach at LRSC, pointed out. "In every single aspect of the game, Dawson played better than us. At the end of the day, they wanted it more and that is all it comes down to."

Going into the contest, one of the keys for Lake Region State College was to control the tempo of the game. The Buccaneers generally like to slow the game down and limit their opponent's touches. That was the case Wednesday.

"We were held to just 59 possessions. That is a number we aren't usually held to," Marshall stated. "On the other side, they had 70 possessions. The statistics show that they controlled the tempo and we let them dictate everything we did."

The score doesn't show how close the game was. There were 18 lead changes and 12 ties on the night. Ultimately, the final score was the biggest lead of the night for either team. Right after a Cedric Boone basket tied the game up at 73 for the Royals, the Buccaneers went on their biggest run of the night.

Inside baskets by the away team's Kolton Wall and Stefan Stubbs gave the the team a four-point lead. Then free throws by Brendon Chevannes and Brent Finn closed out the game as Dawson picked up the 83-73 conference win.

With the loss, the Royals drop to 6-3 in Mon-Dak Conference play and 18-9 overall.

"We have shown how good we can be when our guys play as a team," Marshall said. "But, we have reverted back to individualistic basketball that can be selfish at times. It's something we need to address."

Leading the Royals with 17 points was Boone. Jordan Bolton finished with 12 points. Ben Rennie chipped in with 11 points. Nic Fassos and Drew Thielges finished with nine points each. Harvey Barr scored six points while James Street added five. Jayson Edwards and  Derrick Laudenbach rounded out the scoring with two points each.

LRSC hosts the conference's top team NDSCS Sunday at 4 p.m. 

"We can't have that type of energy against NDSCS," Marshall added. "We have to be playing the right way when it matters the most. We just aren't doing that right now."