Golden Rams Top Ridgewater; Claim Southern Division Championship Outright

Golden Rams Top Ridgewater; Claim Southern Division Championship Outright

The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team defeated Ridgewater 101-72 on Saturday afternoon to win the MCAC Southern Division Championship outright with a 12-2 record.

This the second straight Southern Division title for the Golden Rams after last season's 12-2 finish.

The Golden Rams will enter the NJCAA Region XIII tournament as the #1 seed from the Southern Division and will face the #4 seed from the Northern Division Mesabi Range College in the quarterfinals.

Full pairings will be released following the conclusion of Sunday's matchup between Rochester and Minnesota West.

On Saturday the Golden Rams used an early 12-0 run to pull ahead 16-8.

The lead was extended to 15 points, 31-16, after a three from Jackson Odegard with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Ridgewater hung tight, not letting the Golden Rams extend the lead for the next four minutes before an 8-2 spurt capped by an Elijah Linear jumper put Anoka-Ramsey up by 20.

Five straight points from DeAndre Jones and another Odegard three increased the lead up to 23 and the Golden Rams would take a 57-36 lead into the break.

James Lloyd connected from deep to make the score 70-44, and a Lloyd layup extended the lead past 30 points with 13 minutes left as Anoka-Ramsey cruised to the win.

Anoka-Ramsey shot 54.1 percent overall and made 11 of 30 from the three-point line.

Jones poured in 24 points, one short of his career-high, making 11 of 18 from the field.

Chris Morgan scored 20 points to go with seven rebounds, making 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.

Kevin Schramm scored 17 points and added nine rebounds and six assists.

Lloyd followed with 15 points, and Odegard scored 14 off the bench.

Anoka-Ramsey finishes the regular season with a 17-10 overall record, 12-2 in the MCAC Southern Division.