Thunderbirds win at the buzzer on the road

Sylvester Union hit a corner three pointer just before time expired Sunday afternoon to give United Tribes Technical College a 108-105 win over Dakota College Bottineau.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to get the upper hand. The game was tied 7 times in the first half and changed hands 14 times. The Thunderbirds largest lead of the half was 2 points whereas the Jacks at one point stretched their lead to 7. Both teams shot it well in the first half with UTTC shooting 52% from the field and DCB shooting 54%. Brendan Redhead had 20 first half points to pace the Jacks and Jesse White led the Thunderbirds with 13.

Both offenses came out firing again in the second half and Tribes was able to take a 65-62 lead with 17:07 remaining in the game. Over the next 4 minutes the Thunderbirds would go on 13-4 run to take a 77-66 lead. The Jacks made attempts to chip away over the next few minutes and the lead bounced between 7-10 points. Eventually the Jacks would find themselves within three points and with 1:48 to play Loukas Triantis found Connor Trahan on the wing for a three pointer to tie the game at 103-103. Jayce Archambault got an offensive rebound and tip-in with 40 seconds remaining to give the Thunderbirds the lead at 105-103. On the next possesion Triantis would find Jacob Smith underneath the basket for two points and tie the game. The Thunderbirds quckly inbounded the ball and DK Middleton found Union in the corner for the game winning three at the buzzer.

The Thunderbirds used a balanced scoring attack with 7 players reaching double figures.  Union led the way with 20 points.  He also had 7 rebounds and 5 assists.  Jesse White provided a spark hitting for 17.  Middleton contributed 15 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds.  Tristin Davis and Cayden Redfield also scored 15.  Redfield hauled in a team high 9 rebounds.  Rounding out the scoring was Archambault with 13 and Jayden Yankton with 11.  

The Thunderbirds have won 10 of their last 12 and improve to 15-6 overall and 9-4 in the Mon-Dak. They are now tied with the Jacks for third place in the conference and for the right to be the one seed in the regional tournament. UTTC travels to Williston State College on Thursday for another Mon Dak Conference game at 7:30p.m.