The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team knocked off #9 Rochester Community and Technical College 71-69 on Saturday afternoon.
The win moves the Golden Rams back into a tie for the MCAC Southern Division lead with Rochester, both at 5-1 in the conference.
It took some time for the Golden Rams to find their footing offensively as they fell behind 14-7 seven minutes into the game.
A Rochester three pushed the lead to 20-11 with ten minutes to go before a Chris Morgan layup jump-started a 12-0 Golden Ram run to take a 23-20 lead.
Rochester cut the lead to 25-24, then a Justin Castro three and a layup from James Lloyd extended the Golden Ram lead to 30-24, followed by a Jackson Odegard three to give Anoka-Ramsey a 33-24 lead with three minutes to go in the half.
Anoka-Ramsey took a 37-31 lead into the break thanks to 50 percent shooting in the half (14-28).
Lloyd scored on a layup followed by a Kevin Schramm three and a layup by Morgan and suddenly the Golden Rams were up 44-31 early in the second.
Rochester pulled back within ten, 48-38 before a 7-1 spurt by the Golden Rams extended the lead to 55-39 with 12:42 to play.
But leading 59-45 the Golden Rams hit a dry spell. Rochester went on a 16-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 61-59 lead.
A Morgan free throw pulled Anoka-Ramsey within 61-60, but Rochester countered with a three to go ahead 64-60 with 3:51 left.
A Castro jumper cut the deficit to two, but the teams traded baskets until Rochester took a 68-64 lead with a minute to play.
After a missed Golden Ram jumper, a loose ball technical was called on Rochester, followed by bench technical on the Yellowjackets leading to four straight free throws by Schramm to tie the score at 68-68.
Rochester made one of two free throws but got the offensive rebound after the second miss. Following a Rochester timeout the Golden Rams came away with a big defensive stop. The Golden Rams ran a set out of a timeout that resulted in a missed shot, but a foul was called on Rochester on the ensuing rebound and Schramm knocked down two free throws for a 70-69 lead.
Out of timeouts the Yellowjackets came down the floor and lost the handle on the ball, leading to Schramm diving on the floor to corral the loose ball and Malik El-Amin being fouled with nine seconds to go.
El-Amin made the first free throw but the missed the second and the final three-point attempt from Rochester was knocked away as time ran out.
Anoka-Ramsey finished the night shooting just 41.8 percent but held Rochester to only 43.5 percent. The Golden Rams made 17 of 22 from the foul line compared to just 9 of 16 for Rochester.
Schramm scored 18 points and pulled in 17 rebounds. Castro finished with 18 points.
Morgan chipped in 12 points.
Anoka-Ramsey improves to 11-8 overall, 5-1 in the MCAC Southern Division and travels to Willmar to take on Ridgewater at 7:30pm on Wednesday, January 31.