Win for Bulldogs

The Sundance Bulldogs kicked off the New Year playing host to the Newell Irrigators on Thursday night. Looking to extend their win streak to three, the Bulldogs started out strong in the first quarter with Lane Gill knocking down two big shots from behind the arc and putting the Dawgs up 12-7 after one quarter of play.

A slow start to the second quarter saw the Irrigators struggling to find an open line to the basket as the Bulldogs clogged up the paint, holding the Irrigators to five points, while scoring 10 themselves. The Bulldogs stingy defense gave them a nice 10 point cushion, 22-12, going into the half.

The second half saw the Irrigators come out with a 5-0 run before the Bulldogs were on the board again. Behind the scoring of Lane Gill, and Craig Chandler controlling the boards, the Dawgs were able to keep their lead into the fourth.

The fourth quarter started out with a series of steals and turnovers before the Irrigators gained control and were sent to the line for some foul shots. Coming up short from the line, Newell needed to close the gap and decided a press was the way to do it.

While it was effective, it also put some Irrigators in foul trouble and sent the Bulldogs to the line for easy points. Landon Martin and Lane Gill became very familiar with the stripe as they were able to step up and make some big shots going five for six and five for seven, respectively, keeping the Bulldogs in the lead down the stretch.

As Newell tightened their full court press, control was key and Sundance coach, Nic Olson, needed a timeout to get the press breaker and spread offense set in place. With a comfortable lead and the clock running down, the Bulldogs were able to control the ball and the boards to take the win, 47-37 over the Newell Irrigators.

The Bulldogs (6-4) will look to add on to their three game win streak as they round out their non-conference play and host the NSI Wolves (0-3) Friday at 6 p.m. and the Hill City Rangers (1-5) on Saturday at 4 p.m.

Stats from the game:

Scoring: Gill 20 (6/7 FT), Martin 10 (8/10 FT), Chandler 7 (1/3 FT), Hofland 4 (0/2 FT), Gillespie 4, Taylor 2

Rebounds: Chandler 10, Gill 9, Taylor 6, Hofland 6, Gillespie 5, Martin 2, McLaughlin 1, Kammerer 1

Steals: Martin 3, Gill 2, Gillespie 2, Hofland 1, Taylor 1

Assists: Taylor 10, Gill 3, Hofland 2, Chandler 2, Gillespie 1