By By SCOTT NOVAK / Dowagiac Daily News
Unforced errors were too much for the Dowagiac varsity basketball team to overcome Friday night as the Chieftains fell to visiting St. Joseph, 39-30.
Dowagiac (0-2 overall, 0-1 Big 16 West Division) turned the ball over 23 times, about half of which were unforced. St. Joseph turned the ball over 16 times, but 10 of those came in the first half.
Chieftain coach Greg Blomgren said that a lot of the mistakes were youthful mistakes and ones that he can live with.
It is hard to believe either team could use the term better after a first half that had 25 turnovers and about 25 percent shooting combined.
St. Joseph led 14-10 at the intermission as it connected on 30 percent of its first goal attempts and turned the ball over five fewer times than Dowagiac.
Both teams picked up the pace in the second half.
St. Joseph outscored Dowagiac 11-6 in the third quarter to build up a 25-14 advantage.
Both teams scored 14 points in the final period.
A lack of offense again hurt the Chieftains.
Dowagiac, which could not find the range from the field Tuesday night in Berrrien Springs, also struggled in its home opener.
The Chieftains shot just 21 percent from the floor in the opening 16 minutes and went a stretch of more than 10 minutes without a point.
Dowagiac hit 35 percent from the floor in the second half, but still had a six minute scoreless stretch.
The Chieftains, who opened the game with a 6-2 scoring spurt, wouldn't score again until there was 1:34 remaining in the first half.
Dowagiac came out strong to start the third quarter and tied the score at 16 before going six minutes without scoring.
St. Joseph outscored Dowagiac 12-0 during that stretch to put the game out of reach.
Jamere Bacon led Dowagiac with 12 points, including 10 in the second half.
No other Dowagiac player reached doubles figures. Michael DeRose scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds. Chris Primley finished with six points and six rebounds.
St. Joseph (2-0, 1-0) was led by Jared Knuth's 10 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Hammond finished with nine points, while Thomas Chrisco continued eight points.
Dowagiac returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Benton Harbor to take on the No. 1 (Class A) ranked Tigers. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 7:30 p.m.