The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team built a ten-point second half cushion, then held on to defeat Ridgewater 73-70 in MCAC action Thursday night.
After leading by one at halftime the Golden Rams extended the lead to 56-46 on a layup from Alex Kipliany with 13 minutes to play.
Four straight from the Warriors trimmed the deficit to six and Anoka-Ramsey led 69-63 with 5:27 to play after a Justin Castro free throw.
But Ridgewater responded with consecutive threes to tie the score at 69-apiece with 4:22 to go.
Jalen Dunlap put the Golden Rams back on top with a layup shortly thereafter, then another Dunlap layup pushed the lead to four.
The Golden Ram defense stepped up in the end as they held Ridgewater to no field goals over the final 4:22.
Ridgewater had chances to tie late as Anoka-Ramsey faltered at the free throw line, missing three straight in the final seconds. But the Anoka-Ramsey defense prevented Ridgewater from getting off a tying shot attempt as time ran out.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 44.6 percent but made just 6 of 26 from beyond the three point line; just the second time this season the Golden Rams have shot under 33 percent from behind the arc.
Ridgewater managed just 39.1 percent overall and committed 17 turnovers.
Castro led the Golden Rams with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Dunlap finished with 14 points. DeAndre Jones chipped in a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds.
Anoka-Ramsey improves to 11-9 overall, 4-3 in the MCAC.
Next up is a rematch with St. Cloud Tech on Saturday, February 2nd at 1pm in Coon Rapids.
