United Tribes Sweeps Mystics
Thunderbirds beat Mystics for the third time this season
Pete Conway took one look at the final stat sheet and one thing quickly stood out.
"We didn't shoot the ball as well as we usually do," the United Tribes men's basketball coach said. "It's a good thing when you can shoot 21 percent from the 3-point line and still win a game on the road."
The Thunderbirds may not have knocked down as may shots as they are accustomed to, but Conway will take the final result -- an 88-85 victory over Bismarck State College on Thursday night at the Armory.
United Tribes won for the third time in five outings and snapped the Mystics' three-game winning streak.
But United Tribes went on a 9-0 run to take the lead and the teams traded blows until the Thunderbirds took control with a late first-half run. UTTC used a 14-2 run to turn a four-point edge (32-28) into a 16-point lead with 90 seconds on the first-half clock, leading 46-30 after Nick Jiles scored on a putback, Tyree Florence-Patton hit a pair of free throws, Jiles added a layup and Cecilio Montgomery finished in transition to make it a 16-point lead.
"In the first half, we did a really good job on their shooters," Conway said. "Their big three … we tried to limit their touches and they missed some open shots, too. But I thought for the most part we did a good job on them in the first half. In the second half, obviously, we knew things would open up a little bit and they did get some better looks in the second half and it tightened up like it always seems to do around here."
After McGillis' four early 3-pointers, BSC didn't hit another from beyond the arc for the rest of the first half. The Mystics got five 3-pointers from Joe Jahner Jr. (three) and Jamison Kramer (two) as they rallied to tie the game at 60-60 with 12:06 remaining in the second half.
"I thought we kept our cool. We've been in so many close games this year where the momentum shifted like that, especially on the road. I just thought from those previous games we were able to keep calm, keep collected."
The Thunderbirds finished off the win but not before one last BSC comeback bid.
"I thought 1 through 9 everybody did that and we just did what we had to do," Conway said. "Offensively, we started moving the ball a little more against their zone -- we got stagnant there for a while -- and we found guys in the corner and guys cutting to the basket. Offensively, we were patient at times when we needed to be, and that kind of settled us down a little bit."
Conway also credited his bench play. The Thunderbirds got 18 points off the bench and some quality minutes.
"I thought our bench was really good tonight. Our bench came in and went on a little run and got some rhythm offensively and was getting stops at the other end. They were pretty huge for us tonight," he said.
BSC used a 9-2 run to pull within three (86-83) with 1:36 remaining. The Mystics had three attempts at a game-tying 3-pointer but couldn't get one to fall. Cobe Begger's short jumper in the lane with 3 seconds left made it a one-point game before Bear hit two free throws with 2.2 seconds on the clock for the final margin.
Jahner Jr.'s desperation three at the buzzer was offline.
The win gave United Tribes a sweep of the regular-season conference series. The Thunderbirds won 128-114 earlier in the season.
McGillis and Kramer led BSC (8-21, 5-8 Mon-Dak) with 20 points apiece. Jahner Jr. finished with 13 and Cobe Begger 11. Macauley Young had a game-high 12 rebounds and eight points and Leyton Lang finished with nine points and eight rebounds.
In Sunday's regular-season finales, the Mystics host Dawson while the Thunderbirds host Miles.
