Game Recap: Big 2nd Half Leads to Victory in Season Finale

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team concluded their season with a victory in the 3rd place game of the MCAC/Region XIII tournament on Sunday afternoon.  The Golden Rams defeated Rochester 83-56 after previously falling to Central Lakes in the semifinal game the night before.
It was a tale of two halves offensively for the Golden Rams.  In a first half that saw neither team shoot the ball well, the Golden Rams big second half led to the win.

Neither team could find a rhythm on offense in the opening period as both teams shot below 30 percent for the half with Anoka-Ramsey taking a slight 27-26 lead into the break.

The second half saw an explosion of offense for Anoka-Ramsey, and the same stingy defense that came to define the team this season.

A quick burst to start the half propelled the Golden Rams to a double digit lead early in the half.  Combined with an effective zone defense, Anoka-Ramsey outscored Rochester 56-30 in half number two.

The Golden Rams pushed their lead to 20 for the first time with six minutes remaining and Rochester was never able to get the deficit back under 12 for the remainder of the game.

Anoka-Ramsey shot 66.7 percent (20-30) in the second half to finish at 46.3 percent (31-67).  Rochester managed just 28.2 percent for the game (20-71).

The Golden Rams held a 53-45 edge in rebounds and made nine three point field goals compared to just three for Rochester.

Five players scored in double figures for Anoka-Ramsey.  Lucas Barraud finished with a career-high 19 points on 6-13 shooting and 5-5 from the free throw line.

Michael Stephens scored a career-high 16 points on 6-12 shooting.

Lemuel Doe finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

David Hicks and J.J. Butler rounded out the double-figure scorers with ten points apiece.

Jimmy Sauser scored eight points and pulled in a career-high eight rebounds.

Henry Breedlove led the Golden Rams with 11 rebounds.

Anoka-Ramsey finishes the season with a 22-8 overall record.  It's the second year in a row the Golden Rams finished 22-8.