Madison Area Tech 79, Riverland 70.

Saturday, December 23, 2000

Madison Area Tech 79, Riverland 70

Trailing by 20 points at one point, the Riverland Community College men’s basketball team raised the difference to 9 points in losing to Madison Area Technical College, 79-70, on Friday night in Austin.

The Blue Devils held their own in the initial minutes of the game, right up to a 13-13 tie. However, Madison Area held the lead at the half-way mark, 47-34.

Madison was 19 of 33 in the first half, and collected a half-dozen thee-pointers along the way. However, Nick Peters kept the Blue Devils in the game, Riverland coach Dave Lillemon said, going 5 of 7 from three and tallying 15 points.

Riverland came back in the second half to narrow the gap.

"It was a good second half for us," Lillemon said. "We played very, very good; solid defensively."

Riverland wound up shooting 14 of 32 from two and 11 of 20 from three. However, the Blue Devils were 7 of 18 from the foul line, including two front-end bonuses.

Riverland’s scoring was led by Nick Peters, who collected 20 points, Brett Rogers with 12 and Marzell Little, 10.

Madison Area’s scoring effort was led by Shawn Cotton, who had 22 points for the evening.

The Blue Devils are not 5-7 in non-conference play. They open conference play Jan. 3 vs. Rochester Community and Technical College.