Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Game Recap: Golden Rams Survive Two Overtimes

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team survived two overtimes to defeat Western Technical College 87-83 on Monday night.  The win was the Golden Rams third straight after dropping their previous three.
Honestly, with 50 minutes of basketball there is no way to give an accurate recap of what happened.   Anoka-Ramsey hit some shots, Western hit some shots, both teams led at various times, and both teams had chances to win at the end of regulation and the first overtime.
Here are some statistics for the game.
Anoka-Ramsey led 40-33 at halftime after shooting 48.4 percent (15-31).
Anoka-Ramsey shot just 37.8 percent overall and just 30.2 percent in the second half.
Western Tech shot 41.4 percent (29-70) from the field including 12 of 27 from the three-point line.  The Golden Rams were 11-31 from behind the arc.
Western out-rebounded the Golden Rams 58-43 but committed 23 turnovers to Anoka-Ramsey’s twelve.
Anoka-Ramsey finished the game 20 of 33 from the free throw line while Western Tech hit just 13 of their 28 free throw attempts.
The Golden Rams were led by Chris Harmon’s double-double of 23 points and ten rebounds.  Harmon was 7 of 12 shooting and 7 of 11 from the free throw line.
Lemuel Doe and David Hicks each scored 15 points.  Lucas Barraud finished with 11 points hitting 3 of 5 three-point attempts.  Michael Stephens rounded out the double-figure scorers with ten.
The Golden Rams improve to 14-6 on the season.  They start the second half of MCAC Southern Division play at home on Saturday, February 4th at 3:00pm vs. Riverland.  In their first matchup, the Golden Rams defeated Riverland 80-57.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Balanced Scoring Propels Golden Rams to Win

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team used a balanced scoring attack to defeat #10 Rochester Community and Technical College 75-73 on Wednesday evening.

The Golden Rams had six players score nine points or more, with five of those in double figures.
In an offensive filled first half, the teams traded leads, culminating in a 44-40 lead for Anoka-Ramsey at the break.
The 44 points are the four-highest first half total the Golden Rams have had this season, and the 40 points allowed were the third-most allowed in a first half this season.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 47.6 percent (20-42) compared to 47.2 percent (17-36) for Rochester.  Both teams took great care of the ball with the Golden Rams recording only six turnovers in the half and Rochester only committing four.
The Golden Rams out-rebounded Rochester 28-15 in the half including an 11-4 edge in offensive rebounds.  Anoka-Ramsey shot only one free throw and Rochester only attempted four in the half.
The second half was a different story, as both defenses picked up.
The Golden Rams only managed ten points in the first ten minutes of the second half, and fell behind 63-54.
Slowly, Anoka-Ramsey chipped away at the deficit and finally broke through on Lemuel Doe’s lone three-pointer of the game with about 25 seconds remaining, giving the Golden Rams a 74-73 lead.
Rochester called their final timeout to set up one last play, but a great defensive effort allowed only a contested perimeter shot with six seconds remaining.  The rebound went out of bounds off Rochester with three seconds left, and Chris Harmon was fouled on the inbounds pass.
Harmon made the first free throw, missed the second, and Rochester’s three-quarter court heave fell short.
Scoring double figures for the Golden Rams was J.J. Butler with 12, David Hicks and Michael Stephens with 11 (career-high for Stephens), and Corey Barrett and Harmon with ten apiece.  Lemuel Doe finished with nine.
Barrett led the team with ten rebounds, six on the offensive end.  Harmon pulled in seven rebounds, and Stephens recorded a career-high six rebounds.
Hicks chipped in five assists as well.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 41.1 percent from the field and out-rebounded Rochester 48-40 for the game.
The Golden Rams snapped a three game losing streak and improved to 12-6 on the season, 2-3 in the MCAC Southern Division.  They’ll finish up the first half of conference play at Ridgewater College on Saturday, January 28th at 3:00pm.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Game Webcast Details

Tonight's men's and women's basketball games vs. Rochester Community and Technical College will be webcast live on the internet.

The women's game will begin at 6:00pm with the men's game following at approximately 8:00pm.

Follow these instructions to view the games:

1. Go to http://www.webcast50.com/
2. Click on the tab labeled "college"
3. Click on Anoka-Ramsey Community College
4. Click on watch live event
5. Click on view live event.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Game Recap: Turnovers, Poor Shooting Doom Golden Rams

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team shot a season-low 34 percent and tied a season-high with 26 turnovers, falling 74-55 to #1 ranked Central Lakes College on Wednesday evening.
The 26 turnovers were the most the Golden Rams committed since their first game of the season.  The 55 points scored were also a season-low.  The previous season-low of 63 points was also in the first game of the season.
The Golden Rams started out quick, scoring the first eight points of the game.  Central Lakes countered with a 14-3 run to take a 14-11 lead they would never relinquish.
After falling behind by double digits in the first half, the Golden Rams put together a run to keep the game close, trailing 36-29 at the break.  Anoka-Ramsey committed 14 turnovers in the half and shot 37 percent but held Central Lakes to only 38.5 percent.
Central Lakes capitalized on the Anoka-Ramsey miscues by scoring 17 points off turnovers in the first half, 29 points off turnovers overall for the game.
Anoka-Ramsey was able to keep things interesting for most of the second half, but some costly turnovers and missed shots allowed Central Lakes to push an eight point lead to 15 with about four minutes to play.
The Golden Rams did manage to shoot a season-high 44 percent from the three-point line, connecting on a season-high 11 shots from beyond the arc.
Lemuel Doe scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half, connecting on 5-10 from the three-point line while also pulling in six rebounds.
J.J. Butler chipped in with nine points on 3-6 from behind the arc.
Corey Barrett and Chris Harmon both pulled in a team-high seven rebounds.
The Golden Rams fall to 11-5 on the season, 1-2 in the MCAC Southern Division.
Anoka-Ramsey travels to Worthington to take on Minnesota West on Sunday, January 22nd at 3:00pm.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Defense Leads Golden Rams to MCAC Win

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team used a stifling defense to defeat Riverland Community College 80-57 in their first MCAC Southern Division game of the 2011-2012 season on Wednesday night.
The first half started slow as neither team could find a rhythm offensively, but a short run near the end of the half pushed Anoka-Ramsey to a 29-21 lead at the break.
The Golden Rams held Riverland to just 30.8 percent shooting in the half while shooting 52 percent themselves.   However, eight first half turnovers allowed Riverland to stay close.
Anoka-Ramsey began to slowly pull away in the second half.  The Golden Rams held Riverland to just one field goal over the first six minutes, but Riverland converted eight free throws in that time to stay within striking distance.
The Golden Rams continued to get good shots on the offensive end, and pushed their lead to as many as 25 points.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 60 percent overall for the game (33 of 55) including 66.7 percent (20 of 30) in the second half.
Riverland managed just 24.2 percent shooting in the second half to finish 16 of 59 from the field for the game (27.1 percent).
Anoka-Ramsey held a 44-31 edge on the boards as well.
Lemuel Doe led the Golden Rams in scoring with 21 points on an efficient 7-8 shooting and 6-8 from the free throw line.  Doe also pulled in nine rebounds and dished out four assists.
David Hicks scored 12 points to go with six rebounds.
J.J. Butler finished with 12 points and Antone Darrington recorded ten points and six assists.
Corey Barrett had another solid game finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Golden Rams push their record to 11-3 on the season, 1-0 in MCAC Southern Division play.  They’ll next travel to MSCTC-Fergus Falls on Saturday, January 14 for a 3:00pm tip.  MSCTC defeated Minnesota West on Wednesday night and is also 1-0 in conference play.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Game Recaps: Golden Rams Sweep North Dakota Schools

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team swept a pair of North Dakota schools over the weekend, first defeating United Tribes Technical College 74-52, then knocking off North Dakota State College of Science 82-81.

United Tribes

In Friday night's game, the Golden Rams came out sluggish on both ends of the floor.  Poor shooting by both teams resulted in a low-scoring affair in the first half with Anoka-Ramsey clinging to a 29-27 lead at the break.

The Golden Rams only shot 35.5 percent from the field, but were able to hold United Tribes to just 34.5 percent including 0-7 on three-point attempts.

A much better defensive, and offensive, effort in the second half proved to be the difference, as Anoka-Ramsey went on an early run to claim a double-digit lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Anoka-Ramsey shot a blistering 54.8 percent in the second half to finish at 45.2 percent.  They still held United Tribes to only 34.6 percent in the second half and forced 23 turnovers for the game.  United Tribes also shot just 1-15 from the three-point line.

Anoka-Ramsey held a 43-38 edge in rebounds but shot a season-low 38.5 percent from the free throw line (10-26).

Balanced scoring was a key for Anoka-Ramsey.

Jimmy Sauser came off the bench to score a career-high 14 points including 4-9 from the three-point line.  Sauser also contributed four rebounds, three on the offensive end.

Lemuel Doe was the only other Golden Ram in double figures with 11 points.  Corey Barrett and David Hicks each chipped in nine points.  Michael Stephens finished with eight.  Antone Darrington and Lucas Barraud finished with six apiece.

North Dakota State College of Science

The Golden Rams faced a big challenge as the NDSCS Wildcats came into the game with a 15-1 record and a #18 ranking in the latest NJCAA Division I poll.

In a game that saw neither side have more than a seven point advantage, the Golden Rams were able to outlast NDSCS in the end.

Similar to the game versus United Tribes, both teams came out of the gate a little sluggish.  Despite the 41-37 NDSCS advantage at the break, Anoka-Ramsey shot only 38.2 percent in the first half, while the Wildcats shot 41.9 percent.

The Golden Rams weren't able to make up much ground in the second half as NDSCS continued to maintain a fout to six point lead for the first 14 minutes. 

With about six minutes remaining, the Golden Rams switched to a zone defense.  On the Wildcats' first possession against the zone, Tommy Woolridge hit a three-point shot while being fouled and converted the four-point play.  However, the Golden Rams remained in the zone, stalling the Wildcat offense for a large portion of the last six minutes.

Big shots were made by both sides in the final three minutes with Anoka-Ramsey finally taking a lead on a three-point shot by J.J. Butler.  NDSCS answered right back and the teams exchanged the lead multiple times in the final minutes.

Anoka-Ramsey took the lead 82-81 with about a minute left and converted a defensive stop with about 40 seconds remaining.

The Golden Rams used a timeout with 20 seconds left to set up one final score, but Michael Stephens was fouled on the inbound pass and went to the free throw line with 18 seconds remaining looking to extend the Golden Rams 82-81 lead. 

Both of Stephens free throw attempts rimmed out.  NDSCS ran the clock down and Woolridge missed a contested go ahead three point shot from the top of the key as time expired, preserving the win for Anoka-Ramsey.

Once again, the Golden Rams found a way to take, and make, easier shots in the second half, shooting 57.1 percent to finish the game at 46.8 percent.  They also converted 18 of 29 free throw attempts, improving greatly on the previous nights performance.

NDSCS was held to an identical 41.9 percent shooting again in the second half.

The Golden Rams were led by Lemuel Doe with 23 points on 9-13 from the field.  J.J. Butler finished with 16 points including 4-6 from the three-point line.

Corey Barrett came up big off the bench with 14 points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots.

Chris Harmon scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting and 5-7 from the free throw line.  Harmon also recorded eight rebounds, five on the offensive end.

The Golden Rams now enter MCAC Southern Division play with a 10-3 record.  They will go on the road for their first conference game at Riverland on Wednesday, January 11 at 8:00pm.