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.
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