Royals pull out last-second win against Dawson Community College, 82-79

Article by Chuck Wickenhofer, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published Jan. 11 2016.

In a game that came down to the last shot, the Lake Region State College Royals men's basketball team bested the Dawson Community College Buccaneers, 82-79. 

Royals head coach Jared Marshall attributed the win to the toughness of his team's sophomores. "Having those four guys that have been there and played about 50 games for me - they've been in those situations and they know what to expect. They came through big."

AJ Nywesh led the Royals balanced attack with 19 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, while Ryan Clark notched a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, 11 of which came on the defensive end. Ben Rennie scored 17 points, while Tom Kubank added 16 points.

The game could have gone either way, as there were many lead changes throughout. The Royals built a five point margin midway through the first half, only to see the Buccaneers battle back to take a 35-33 lead into halftime. 

The Royals defense ramped up the pressure to begin the second half, which created fast break opportunities and enabled them to build a six point lead three minutes after the break. However, the Buccaneers shot well and sank back-to-back three pointers to tie the game at 56-56 halfway through the second.

After the Buccaneers took a 63-62 lead with 7:14 left in the game, the Royals stepped up the defensive pressure while helping themselves by staying out of foul trouble. The Royals kept the Buccaneers out of the bonus until less than three minutes were left in the game. 

"That's something we've really worked on with our short bench. We've really worked on not getting those touch fouls - the refs really let it go a little bit today," said Marshall.

The Royals were up 72-69 with just under two minutes left to go, then forced a jump ball and converted the resulting possession to take a five point lead. However, the Buccaneers kept the pressure on, nabbing a steal and hitting a three pointer to pull within one with 34.8 seconds left in the game. The Buccaneers managed to tie the game with 18.8 seconds on the clock to tie it up, 79-79.

The Royals used the clock wisely on their next possession, moving the ball around until they found Kubank open in the corner for the go-ahead three pointer with 2.3 seconds left in the game.

"I told them at halftime the shots were gonna fall, and just keep getting good looks," Marshall said.

The Buccaneers managed to get a three pointer off just as time expired, which rattled in and out of the rim. The question is: Why didn't the Royals foul, which would have resulted in a one-and-one for the Buccaneers and assured that they couldn't tie the game with time running out?

"That's a situation we've worked on, and we just didn't execute. That's something we need to get better at, and that's on me to practice it a little bit more. We've done it before, it's something we're gonna revisit again this week," said Marshall.

The 16-4 Royals take on the North Dakota State College of Science Wildcats Wednesday night. The Wildcats travel to the DL Sportcenter on a three-game losing streak, though they're 11-6 on the season.