HAVRE, Mont. – November of 2013 was the last Argo basketball scored as many points as it did against Salish Kootenia College in the 2016 Thanksgiving Classic hosted by MSU-Northern. UGF scored 66 first half points on the way to a 112-83 win over the Buffalos.
 
The UGF bench a large reason for the Argo's high scoring effort. Over half of the team's points came from reserve players, a total of 69 points, and four of the team's five double-digit scorers were players who didn't start the game.
 
Backup forward Tymarieh Dixon had a breakout performance, setting a game high and career high with 16 points off 7-8 shooting from the field. All of his baskets were from inside the 3-point arc, scoring mostly on drives to the basket, which contributed to UGF's 60 total points in the paint.
 
While the score was high, it was rebounding and defense that led to all those points and separated UGF its opponent. The Argos outrebounded Salish Kootenia 51-39 and scored 21 second chance points off 18 offensive rebounds.
 
The other major source of points for the Argos was points off turnovers. The Argos forced the Buffalos into 25 turnovers and turned those into 23 direct points off turnovers and even more extra possessions.
 
Those two advantages were needed, because the end, the shooting percentages weren't all that different. UGF shot just under 49 percent from the field and just over 31 percent from three, while Salish Kootenia was just behind in overall shooting percentage at 41.2, but shot a superior 42.9 percent from long range. The Buffalos also went 12-13 from the free-throw line, besting the Argos' 12-18.
 
Along with Dixon, the other top performer was senior guard/forward Sigman Farmer III, the lone starter to score in double-digits. Farmer finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
 
Point guards Matthew Brooks-McGregor and Jarred Burr each came off the bench to score 12 points, with Burr adding a team leading 4 assists. The other scorer at or over 10 was senior forward Issac Howard, who totaled exactly 10 points.
 
The Argos record goes to 5-1 with the win. Next up will be New Hope Christian College on day two of the Thanksgiving Classic, a November 26 contest at 11:30 a.m.