The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team picked up two wins last weekend over MCAC Northern Division opponents with a 103-54 win over Fond du Lac, and an 85-81 win over Central Lakes.
Against Fond du Lac the Golden Rams opened up an early 16-5 lead after a Murshid Mudricat Zuberi layup.
The Thunder pulled within 21-12 before a Romello Wilson layup sparked a 9-3 spurt to give Anoka-Ramsey a 30-15 lead with nine minutes left in the first.
After four straight from Fond du Lac, Steven Colon scored eight straight as part of a 14-0 run to blow the game open.
The Golden Rams continued their hot shooting and led 57-25 at the break.
Jackson Odegard opened the second half with a three and Nashiem Lozier scored a layup for a quick 5-0 run as the lead continued to grow.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 60.3 percent overall and connected on 11 of 24 threes.
Six players scored double figures with Colon leading the way with 17. Wilson scored 16 points followed by Justin Castro and Odegard with 15 apiece. Zuberi chipped in 12 and Lozier had a double-double with ten points and 13 rebounds.
The Golden Rams faced a stiffer test on Saturday against Central Lakes but hung on for the 85-81 win.
Jackson Odegard hit a three six minutes into the game to give the Golden Rams a 17-8 lead.
A 10-3 Raiders run cut the lead to 20-18 but back-to-back threes from Castro and Lozier extended the lead back to eight.
Central Lakes chipped away and pulled with two, 35-33 with 1:23 to play in the opening half but two free throws from Odegard and a jumper from Wilson gave Anoka-Ramsey a 39-33 lead at halftime.
Five quick points from Central Lakes to open the second half trimmed the deficit to 39-38 but Lozier and Castro combined for ten points in a 10-2 run to extend the lead back to nine for the Golden Rams.
Both teams continued to exchange runs throughout the second half with the Golden Rams leading by 3-4 possessions before Central Lakes would cut into the lead again.
A three from Beau Nelson put Anoka-Ramsey up 67-58 but the Raiders countered with an 11-2 run to tie the game at 69 apiece with five minutes left.
Anoka-Ramsey responded with their own 12-4 run to go up 81-73 with 2:37 to go before a 8-0 run by Central Lakes knotted the score at 81 apiece with just 43 seconds to play.
Colon broke free on the ensuing Golden Rams possession for a layup, and the Golden Rams got a big stop on the next Central Lakes possession with Colon getting fouled and making two free throws with 11 seconds left for the final margin.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 48.4 percent making 15 of 31 from the three-point line compared to just 5 of 17 from three for Central Lakes.
Once again six Golden Rams finished in double digits scoring with 24 from Justin Castro on 9 of 16 shooting and 4 of 7 from three.
Nelson finished with 14 points making 5 of 7 shots.
Wilson and Lozier each scored 12 points.
Odegard chipped in 11 and Colon scored ten points.
Anoka-Ramsey improves to 4-3 and will travel to Mesabi and Vermilion next weekend for two more games against MCAC Northern Division teams.
