Pioneers 61... NDSCS 81
The MCC Pioneers hung tough with the NDSCS Wildcats before eventually losing steam late in a 81-61 loss. MCC trailed 37-32 at half and also trailed by only 5 with 7:00 to play but costly turnovers and timely 3-point shooting by the Wildcats sent the Pioneers to their 2nd consecutive loss.
Blessing Adesipe (Houston, TX) scored 23 points (9-20 FG, 1-6 3's, 4-8 FT) and grabbed 11 to lead the Pioneer attack. Adesipe also had 7 turnovers in the contest. Denzel Kabasele (Lancaster, PA) scored 14 points (5-9 FG, 1-4 3's, 3-4 FT), grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 3 assists while Ben Datro (Montreal, Quebec) added 13 points (5-9 FG, 1-2 3's, 2-3 FT) to go along with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals. Shayden Cooke (Melstone, MT) led the team with 4 assists and had 7 points.
MCC shot 24-58 (41%) and 4-17 on 3's. and had 12 assists to go along with 18 turnovers.
Pioneers 68... Bismarck State 62
The MCC Pioneers rallied from a 14 point 1st half deficit and used some timely 3-point shooting and clutch free throws to earn their 1st MonDak Conference win of the 2022-23 season. Denzel Kabasele (Lancaster, PA) scored 21 points (7-10 FG, 2-4 3's, 5-6 FT), grabbed 4 rebounds, and had 3 assists to lead the way in the Pioneer victory. Blessing Adesipe (Houston, TX) contributed 13 points (5-14 FG, 2-4 3's, 1-2 FT) and a team high 8 rebounds. Ben Datro (Montreal, Quebec) hit for 12 points (4-6 FG, 0-2 3's, 4-4 FT) and had a team high 5 assists.
Erick Barea (Celaya, Mexico) had 7 rebounds and David Gorianskii (Tralee, Ireland) had 6 rebounds as the Pioneers outrebounded the Mystics 35-24. MCC had 18 turnovers in a game where they shot 24-49 FG (49%) and 5-16 3's. They also hit on 15-19 FT's including a perfect 7-7 down the stretch to put the game out of reach. MCC did commit 18 turnovers. Bismarck State hit on 25-54 FG (46%) and 9-19 3's but only 3-6 on free throws.
Pioneers 83... Dakota College 93
Shooting woes once again plagued the Pioneers as the Lumberjacks got off to a fast start and led the Pioneers for the entirety of the game. MCC trailed 43-37 at halftime and the lead stretched to 74-54 midway thru the 2nd half. MCC clawed back in the the game and cut the lead to 89-83 with just over a minute to play but couldn't get any closer.
The Pioneers were 33-78 (42%) from the field and 5-20 (25%) from the 3-point line. MCC hit on only 12-22 FT (55%) attempts. The Lumberjacks were 30-61 FG (49%), 11-23 3's (48%), and 22-29 FT's (76%). MCC had 12 turnovers and the Lumberjacks 16.
Blessing Adesipe had 31 points (13-25 FG, 3-7 3's, 2-4 FT) and a team high 12 rebounds. Denzel Kabasele added 20 points (7-14 FG, 2-4 3's, 4-6 FT), 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. Shayden Cooke (Melstone, MT) had 11 points (3-9 FG, 0-3 3's, 5-6 FT) off the bench for the Pioneers. Ben Datro scored 10 points (5-19 FG, 0-3 3's, 0-4 FT).
The Pioneers next game is at Lake Region State College on Saturday, Nov. 12 @ 3:00 PM MST.