A couple of 3-pointers by their post player were all Dixon needed to get things going Wednesday against Alleman.

Both of Jakob Nicklaus’ perimeter baskets ignited runs, and the second surge turned the tide in the Dukes’ 59-48 nonconference victory at Lancaster Gym.

Trailing 28-19 in the final minute of the first half, Nicklaus nailed a 3 after pretty ping-pong passing from his cousin Brody Nicklaus to Zander Wilson in the post to Jakob Nicklaus in the corner with 15 seconds left to cut the deficit to 28-22 at the break.

That carried over to an early surge to start the second half to tie the game at 32, then his second 3 – again on a pass from Brody Nicklaus into Armahn McGowan in the post to Jakob Nicklaus in the corner – kick-started a 22-2 spurt that turned a 36-32 third-quarter deficit into a 54-38 lead midway through the fourth.

“Those were big shots, because when we get going, we’re rolling,” Dixon’s Beckham Rock said. “We went on a big run there, and we definitely do feed off each other; we do that very well. But we’ve got to start coming out with energy instead of having to build it up throughout the game. That’s what we’ve been working at.”

“Once they see one go in, the confidence starts growing, and that’s what happened,” Alleman coach Scott Morel said. “It’s that snowball effect; it starts little, but ends up pretty big.”

Precision passing, offensive rebounding and aggressive defense set the tone for Dixon (7-14) in the second half. The Dukes had either an assist or a putback on nine of their first 12 baskets after halftime, and ended the night with 12 assists and 20 offensive boards in snapping a four-game losing streak.

Defensively, Dixon turned up the pressure with a half-court trap, and also limited Alleman’s drives to the basket, which were key for the Pioneers (6-17) in building their early lead.

“The energy was awesome. We were all just hyping each other up, and that’s what you need during the game is your teammates to lift you up,” Jakob Nicklaus said. “We talked about it in the locker room [at halftime]. We needed intensity and we needed to fill our gaps a lot more [defensively]. We were hugging up on our guys really bad, and I feel like once we stopped doing that and started filling where we were supposed to, we got a lot of pressure, tips on the ball, and turnovers.”

Alleman had scoring droughts of 3:40 and 4:27 during Dixon’s extended second-half surge, and just couldn’t get shots to fall from inside or outside. After hitting nine shots in the first quarter, the Pioneers hit only nine the entire second half. In addition, nine of their 15 turnovers came after the break, and they were outscored 12-4 in both points off turnovers and second-chance points.

“Some of the shots fall, it might be different. We were a little off tonight; this is our second game in a row and the legs get tired,” Morel said. “Dixon did a really good job. They were doubling-teaming us, getting the loose balls. They got the 50-50 balls, and that’s something we’ve been getting, but Dixon flipped the table on us.”

Brody Nicklaus had 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals, and Rock also scored 11 points for Dixon. Jakob Nicklaus had 10 points and four boards, and McGowan added six points and nine rebounds. Xavion Jones had six points and four rebounds, and Brady Feit (five rebounds, two steals), Jimi Gosinski (two assists, two steals) and Zander Wilson scored five points each. Cameron Foulker chipped in four boards as all nine Dukes grabbed at least two rebounds.

“We’re young this year, so we’re just gaining more chemistry every game throughout the year,” Rock said. “They were in a zone [defense], and all you can do to beat a zone is pass it around, move the ball and get to the middle, then attack the gaps.

“And forcing turnovers and running out in transition is definitely something we’ve been looking forward to this year. That’s how we’re going to beat teams, and we’ve got a lot of guys who can run the floor and play confident in transition.”

Jack Wendt (13 points, three rebounds), Dereon McDaniel (12 points, five rebounds) and Bryce Jackson (10 points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists) all scored in double figures for the Pioneers, and Abraham Awour added seven points and five rebounds.