Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Bay College’s Ryan Robinette (13) shoots a layup against Dakota County Technical College’s Dante Aganmwonyi as DCTC’s Daevonte Munson (10) looks on during Saturday’s game at Bay College.

ESCANABA — The men’s basketball series between Bay College and Dakota County Technical College hasn’t been kind to the home team.

That trend continued here Saturday as Dakota County squeezed past the Norse 82-81 in an important match-up between Region 13 teams.

This marked the fifth meeting between the teams dating back to last season, with the Blue Knights winning all three games in the Northern Lights YMCA gym. The Norse have won both meetings in Minnesota.

“It’s hard to get home wins between the two of us, I guess,” said Bay coach Matt Johnson.

“It took us a while to get over the hump. We got our deficit down to two points a number of times, but It seemed everytime we’d get it down to two, they had an answer. The guys worked hard. Only, we didn’t make enough plays down the stretch.”

The victory enabled Dakota County (12-8) to snap a four-game losing streak. The Norse (14-7) had won six straight.

Saturday’s outcome means the regional homecourt advantage and opening-round bye may be decided by a coin toss for the second straight year unless Gogebic Community College defeats the Blue Knights or Norse next month.

Bay, which trailed most of the second half, took an 80-78 lead on a pair of free throws by freshman guard Chris Dobessi with two minutes, 44 seconds left to play.

Freshman forward Piontek Young tied the score on a jump shot from the lane at 2:15, then sank another jumper from the boulevard for an 82-80 lead with 1:11 remaining.

Dobessi split a pair of free throws with 51.4 seconds left, bringing the Norse within a point.

Bay had a chance to win it in the closing seconds, but a jumper by Dobessi bounced out of the rim at the buzzer.

Dakota County took its largest lead at 62-53 after sophomore forward Deshawn Walker was awarded four free throws on an intentional foul by freshman forward Xaviel Fields.

“I’ve never seen a team shoot four free throws on a flagrant foul in my life,” said Johnson.

The Blue Knights were then awarded the ball out of bounds, but failed to convert.

The call made by Nick Nolde of Escanaba, one of three game officials, later acknowledged he made an error and issued the following statement:

“The flagrant foul should have been two shots only and then the ball awarded to DCTC out of bounds. I was getting hung up on if there were separate fouls (one common and one flagrant/technical) you would enforce both. I can only say sorry as that ended up being a big factor in the game. There is no excuse not to know the rules.”

Bay began to whittle away at its deficit until leading briefly in the final three minutes.

The Norse grabbed an early 9-0 lead on a jumper from the right corner by sophomore guard Ryan Robinette, of Escanaba.

Bay still led 24-18 midway through the first half.

Dakota County, with just seven available players, answered with an 8-0 run and took a 26-24 lead on a jumper from downtown by sophomore guard Amitri Collins-Westlund at 7:50.

“They’re well conditioned and they all can play,” said Johnson. “You have to be well conditioned when you have only seven. Although, most of the time you go only seven deep anyway.”

Sophomore forward Christian Alexander tied the score on a jumper from the boulevard.

The Norse, however, managed just four points through the remainder of the half and trailed 36-30 at the intermission.

Freshman guard Matt Wagner led the Norse with 20 points and four assists. Alexander, who had three slam dunks, added 18 points and eight rebounds. Dobessi finished with 15 points and Robinette had 12.

Walker paced the Blue Knights with 22 points and eight boards. Collins-Westlund scored 19 and sophomore guard Daevonte Munson had 18.

Bay held a 34-24 rebounding advantage, hit 26-of-51 field goals and committed 14 turnovers. The Blue Knights sank 30-of-61 shots and had 10 miscues.

The Norse bounced back Sunday night with a 98-75 triumph over the Lake Superior State jayvees at Sault Ste. Marie.

Alexander led the way with 25 points and three dunks. Wagner hit 18 points. Dobessi added 11 points and a pair of dunks and Robinette had 11 points and 10 boards for the Norse, who led 47-29 at halftime.

Austin Purchase, who drained seven 3-point shots, led the Lakers with 24 points. Reese Zhulkie added five trifectas and 17 points. Stone Arnold had 12.

The Norse host Finlandia University Saturday at 3 p.m.

Dakota County 36 46 — 82

Bay College 30 51 — 81

Dakota County Technical College — Smith 8, Munson 18, Collins-Westlund 19, Walker 22, Young 6, Aganmwonyi 6, Seymore 3. FT: 12-20; F: 21; Fouled out: Munson; 3-point field goals: Collins-Westlund 4, Munson 2, Walker 2, Smith, Seymore.

Bay College — Dobessi 15, Wagner 20, Robinette 12, Mattson 4, Alexander 18, Fleming 1, Harris 3, Fields 6, Masuga 2. FT: 20-26; F: 16; Fouled out: Alexander; 3-point field goals: Wagner 4, Dobessi 2, Robinette 2, Harris.