Hawks hang on to beat Jamestown

• Brock Boos

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson State junior Brock Boos shoots a 3-pointer on Saturday in a men’s basketball game against Jamestown College at Scott Gymnasium.

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Dickinson State and Jamestown College have seen plenty of each other.

The two former Dakota Athletic Conference rivals met on Dec. 8 when the Jimmies churned out a 15-point win.

DSU didn’t want a replay of that game and used a balanced offensive attack to beat the Jimmies 61-56 on Saturday night at Scott Gymnasium.

“We’ve been working on doing some things offensively and really slowing ourselves down,” DSU head coach Ty Orton said. “The guys really stepped up and did the little things.”

The Jimmies, however, didn’t leave the gym quietly. Jamestown’s Davon Thomas and Mark Hoge knocked down 3-pointers in the final minute to bring the team within three, 59-56. Hoge had a game-high 20 points, while Thomas finished with 10.

“We hit some 3’s late to kind of keep us around,” Jamestown head coach Justin Wieck said. “It’s tough, because we’ve been there when you are trying to protect the lead. They played a really good game. They made life tough on us guarding them and made life tough on us taking shots.”

After Hoge’s 3-pointer, Hansen stepped up to the free-throw line to knock down the final two points of the game.

A sharpshooting performance from 3-point range helped the Blue Hawks (4-7). They went 5 of 10 from the first half, but cooled down a little bit in the second half, going 3 of 7.

Senior guard Johnie Sanders led the charge for DSU with 12 points. Out of the 11 players that set foot on the floor for DSU, 10 of them scored at least two or more points. Robbie Morey, James Hayden and Brock Boos each finished with nine points.

“Our team is so deep and that’s a really neat thing,” said Hayden, a senior guard. “There aren’t a lot of deep teams like us. Guys come in constantly whether it’s for two or three minutes. They give all they have. That’s what makes our team so special. Everybody can contribute.”

“It wasn’t one person going out there and shooting 30,” Orton added. “It was everybody doing their job.”

DSU took a 30-24 halftime lead. But midway through the second half, the Jimmies began making a comeback.

Jamestown (7-7) went on an 11-0 run that cut DSU’s lead to 45-41. Jared Sutherland capped the run with a dunk.

Freshman forward Ryan Sullivan scored his only two points to end the Jimmies’ run on a feed from junior Ty Ackelson with 9 minutes, 18 seconds left.

“We’ve been up a couple games at halftime and in the second half we’ve played flat,” said Hayden, who led the team with 10 rebounds. “One of our mentalities is to come out with the same or more intensity in the second half.”

Hayden came off the bench to lead the Blue Hawks with seven points and six rebounds in the first half. Boos also came off the bench to post six first-half points, while the starters combined for 12 of the team’s 30 first half points.

DSU shot 11 of 26 (42 percent) from the floor in the first half, while Jamestown went 9 of 24 (38 percent). The numbers changed slightly at the end of the game with the Blue Hawks shooting 45 percent and the Jimmies with 41 percent.

“They shot 45 percent and I felt like they did what everything they wanted to do on the offensive end,” Wieck said. “We’ve been a pretty good defensive team all year, but if we’re not cranked up it’s going to be tough for us every night. I was begging and pleading to try to get them going. We had some good moments, but overall I was disappointed with our defensive effort.”

With an added dose of confidence, Hayden said the team wanted to end the semester on another positive note.

The Blue Hawks are off until they travel to the Wesmen Classic hosted by the University of Winnipeg from Dec. 28-30.

“Our confidence is absolutely built up,” Hayden said. “This team has already been through so much this year. It shows our ability to fight, to push through and trust each other.”

JAMESTOWN COLLEGE (7-7): Dan Janu 1-3 0-0 2, Andre Maund 2-3 2-3 6, Taylor Newton 1-1 0-0 3, Davon Thomas 4-10 1-2 10, Mark Hoge 6-16 5-5 20, Breshion Tucker 2-6 2-2 6, Aaron Stemen 1-2 0-0 3, Jared Sutherland 2-4 0-0 4, Beny Collins 0-0 2-2 2, Jesse Behm 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-46 10-11 56.

DICKINSON STATE (5-7): Johnie Sanders 3-11 4-4 12, Phillip Johnson Jr. 1-3 0-0 2, Ty Ackelson 0-0 0-0 0, Robbie Morey 3-9 2-2 9, John Hanstad 3-6 0-0 7, Anthony Hodges 2-3 0-0 4, Ryan Sullivan 1-2 0-0 2, James Hayden 4-4 1-1 9, Brock Boos 3-4 3-4 9, Isiah Thomas 1-1 0-0 2, Jarek Hansen 1-6 2-2 5. Totals: 22-49 9-9 61.

Halftime: DSU 30-24. Total fouls: JC 13, DSU 13. 3-point goals: JC 8-19 (Maund 2-3, Newton 1-1, Thomas 1-3, Hoge 3-8, Tucker 0-1, Stemen 1-2, Sutherland 0-1), DSU 8-17 (Boos 3-4, Sanders 2-3, Hanstad 1-2, Morey 1-3, Hansen 1-4, Hodges 0-1). Rebounds: JC 25 (three tied with four), DSU 29 (Hayden 10). Assists: JC 9 (Tucker 3, Hoge 3), DSU 12 (Morey 3). Steals: JC 4, DSU 3 (Boos 2). Blocks: JC 2, DSU 1. Turnovers: JC 14 (Newton 3), DSU 11 (Sanders 2, Hodges 2).

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