Jake Bettis was an integral part of Riverland's plans to win its Minnesota Community College Conference opener at Minnesota West Wednesday night in Worthington. But one minute into the game, Riverland's plans had to change.

Bettis, the team's leading scorer, went down with a knee injury and is likely lost for the season. The 6-5, 230-pound sophomore center has battled nagging injuries throughout his career, but this one keep him off the court for the remainder.

Riverland shifted on the run in Bettis' stead but could not come up with the win, falling 96-81 in the MCCC Southern Division opener for both teams.

"It was a post play, he made a spin move and fell," Riverland coach David Lillemon said of Bettis' final play. "He suffered a very serious knee injury, possibly an MCL (medial collateral ligament) tear, and right away the whole game changed."

The Blue Devils have counted on Bettis all season to provide them with a post presence. His 18.2 points per game was third in the division entering Wednesday's eventual loss, and his .568 field-goal percentage was second best.

Without him, Riverland rallied around the three-point line but could not come up with enough long-range bombs to blast its way back into the game. The host Bluejays led by nine at the half, 36-27, as the Blue Devils got beat up in the lane.

"We had to change our gameplan, and we didn't have any true post defense," Lillemon said. "Losing Jake just made the game tough. Size just played such a big part."

Minnesota West's 6-7 center Mitch Staples had 13 points and 6-4 forward Eric Elgersma led all players with 23 points. The win was only the second this season for the Bluejays (2-12, 1-0).

Curt Peterson poured in a season-high 21 points for Riverland, which shot just 4-for-27 from three-point land. Andy Stouvenel, the team's second-leading scorer, added 15 as one of four Devils in double-digits.

Jeff Roemhildt added a season-high 11 and Kelly Connaughty chipped in 10 in the loss. Bettis made 1-2 free-throws before coming off the court following his season-ending injury.

"We'll have to regroup and try and come up with something," Lillemon said. "I feel more for Jake and my heart goes out to him because I hate to see anyone get injured."

Roemhildt and Mark Skellenger, a 6-7 backup center, played admirably in Bettis' place in the lane.

"We definitely played hard, we just tried to do things too fast at times," Lillemon said. "They really were determined to pick up Jake.

"That's a big void. That's a lot of points to try and replace."

Riverland (5-8, 0-1) never got within seven of Minnesota West in the second half.

The Blue Devils host Anoka-Ramsey on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Golden Rams were 3-9 entering their division opener Wednesday against Rochester Community and Technical College (9-2).

Boxscore:

RIVERLAND -- Curt Peterson 21, Andy Stouvenel 15, Jeff Roemhildt 11, Kelly Connaughty 10, John Tillo 7, Adam Kasper 6, Mark Skellenger 2, Calvin Morris 8, Jake Bettis 1.

MINNESOTA WEST -- Eric Elgersma 23, T.J. Newgard 18, Mitch Staples 13, Mike Johnson 10, Kyle Boever 8, John Ziegeldorf 8, Aaron Brudelie 5.