Saturday Afternoon the Anoka Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team advanced to the MCAC Region 13 Championship game with a 72-63 victory over Central Lakes College. Head Coach Ron Larson said: “I am proud of the hard work and dedication our players have shown this season and believe they can win this championship”.
The Golden Rams quickly built a ten point lead 30-20 within 12 minutes into the first half before Central Lakes closed in with a 14-8 run. The Golden Rams went into the break with a slight lead 38-34. At the half statistics showed an even span with The Golden Rams shooting 44.8% with Central Lakes at 44.4%. Rebounds also proved even with both teams at 15. Trey Scott helped the Golden Rams score 15 points and Central Lakes Marcus Ayala racked up 14 points for his team.
The second half brought a quick seven points to The Golden Rams, bringing the score to 45-34. Central Lakes managed to make up seven points bringing the gap to 45-41. Central Lakes proved a tough opponent for The Golden Rams with a steady offense and powerful defense holding the score within five points for most of the third quarter.Saturday Afternoon the Anoka Ramsey Community College Men’s Basketball team advanced to the MCAC Region 13 Championship game with a 72-63 victory over Central Lakes College. Head Coach Ron Larson said: “I am proud of the hard work and dedication our players have shown this season and believe they can win this championship”.
The Golden Rams quickly built a ten point lead 30-20 within 12 minutes into the first half before Central Lakes closed in with a 14-8 run. The Golden Rams went into the break with a slight lead 38-34. At the half statistics showed an even span with The Golden Rams shooting 44.8% with Central Lakes at 44.4%. Rebounds also proved even with both teams at 15. Trey Scott helped the Golden Rams score 15 points and Central Lakes Marcus Ayala racked up 14 points for his team.
The second half brought a quick seven points to The Golden Rams, bringing the score to 45-34. Central Lakes managed to make up seven points bringing the gap to 45-41. Central Lakes proved a tough opponent for The Golden Rams with a steady offense and powerful defense holding the score within five points for most of the third quarter.
The fourth quarter proved difficult for both teams with players beginning to miss easy shots and rebounds changing hands without scores. Golden Ram Trey Scott hit five outside shouts bringing the score for Anoka Ramsey to 64. Not to be outdone, Central Lakes worked their defense to close the gap to 64-58. Central Lakes continued to hammer the shots and took the lead by one point. After a quick time out, The Golden Rams began to dominate making three shots in a row bringing the score to 70-60.
Heavy defense and quick rebounding moved the Rams to outbound Central Lakes 35-14. With under a minute to play, The Golden Rams missed a bonus free throw three times, but worked a strong offensive rebound. The Golden Rams assistant coach Rory Larson kept his cool when he reminded his players to: “pay attention to defense and play hard to the end. We can win this, yes we can.”
Golden Ram Trey Scott used his skill to score 26 points. Scott also made 15 rebounds in the game, his career high. Teammate Dan Konz racked up 12 points with six rebounds and Ben Hill and Richard Harmon scored nine points each. Anoka Ramsey Community College Athletic Director Dave Alto said: “this year I’ve watched many exciting games with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams. I believe we might have two national championship teams at the end of the season.”
With under a minute left of game play Trey Scott made two crucial points following a technical foul on Central Lakes to preserve the well deserved victory. Head Coach Ron Larson and assistant coach Rory Larson took a last minute time-out telling the players to, “keep your eye on the ball and do not lose your focus.”
Fans cheered and Rochester watched closely to see which team they would play in Sunday’s MCAC Championship game. With both teams showing wear The Golden Rams ended the game with a proud 72-63 win over Central Lakes College.
Players shook hands while fans cheered The Golden Rams in their successful step in taking the national championship trophy. Anoka Ramsey’s Golden Rams advance to Sunday’s MCAC Championship game verses Rochester Community and Technical College at 2:00 p.m. on the Anoka Ramsey campus.
