Game Story: Second Half Flurry Leads to 83-67 Victory for Men’s Basketball Team

In a tale of two halves, the Anoka-Ramsey Men’s Basketball team used an incredible second half defensive performance to defeat North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) 83-67 on Monday night, avenging an earlier loss to the Trojans. 

The Golden Rams opened the game with a slow start on both ends of the floor allowing NIACC to shoot 61.5% from the field in the first half while only managing 40.5% themselves.  However, thanks to forcing 15 NIACC turnovers, the Golden Rams only trailed 41-34 at the break.

The second half was a different story. 

Anoka-Ramsey began the period with a 12-0 run to take a 46-41 lead five minutes into the half and never looked back.  The performance continued as the Golden Rams picked up their pressure on the defensive end, not allowing NIACC to get many clean looks at the basket.  Anoka-Ramsey forced 16 turnovers in the second half, many of which were steals that led to fast break layups.  The Trojans shot 29.6% in the second period including 1 for 8 from the three point line.  Meanwhile, the Golden Rams shot 50% (17-34) including 35.7% on three’s (5-14) and 71.4% from the FT line (10-14) in the half.

For the game, Anoka-Ramsey forced 31 turnovers, 25 of which were steals, while only committing 14 turnovers themselves.  The Golden Rams were 9-28 (32.1%) from the three-point line and 32-71 overall (45.1%) from the field.

Trey Scott once again led the Golden Rams in scoring with 21 points.  Scott also recorded a career-high 12 steals in the game.  Jamar Franks tallied 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals.  Richard Harmon recorded 12 points and four assists, while Tyler Salkey scored a career-high 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting and 3 for 3 from the free-throw line.

Anoka-Ramsey improves to 3-2 on the season.  The Golden Rams will be back in action on Tuesday, November 30^th when they travel to St. Paul to take on the Hamline University Junior Varsity at 7:00pm.