The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team dropped their first MCAC Southern Division contest 87-67 to Minnesota West on Wednesday evening in Worthington, MN.

The Golden Rams entered the game tied for first in the division with a 4-0 record while Minnesota West was 1-3 after forfeiting their previous two wins due to an ineligible player.

Anoka-Ramsey got off to a slow start and struggled to get any consistent offense going throughout the game.

Malik El-Amin hit a three with 12:07 to play in the first half giving Anoka-Ramsey a 16-14 lead but Minnesota West used a 12-0 run to take a 26-16 advantage.

The Blue Jays extended the lead to 16 points, 40-24 with 4:55 left in the half but Anoka-Ramsey closed the half on a 14-4 run to pull within six at the break.

The deficit was cut to three after a Kevin Schramm field goal with 16 minutes left before Minnesota West responded with five straight to go back up by eight.

Justin Castro scored to pull back within six but the Golden Rams then allowed a 10-0 run that essentially sealed the game for Minnesota West as Anoka-Ramsey got no closer than 14 the rest of the way.

Anoka-Ramsey shot just 39.4 percent overall and amde 13 of 35 three-point attempts.

Minnesota West meanwhile shot 45.2 percent and knocked down 14 of 27 from beyond the arc while also out-rebounding Anoka-Ramsey 44-38.

Schramm scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half to keep the Golden Rams in the game.

DeAndre Jones scored 13 off the bench, his second straight game in double figures.

Anoka-Ramsey is now 10-8 overall, 4-1 in the MCAC and will host conference-leading Rochester on Saturday, January 27 at 3:00pm.