The Riverland men’s basketball team clamped down on defense in the last two minutes to lift them to an 88-83 win over Anoka-Ramsey in Riverland Gym Wednesday.

Josh Davis blocked a driving lay-up from Ben Hill to conserve an 84-83 lead, Denzel Smith pulled down a big rebound while getting hit to the floor to keep an 85-83 lead and Nicco Montgomery sealed the deal with steal to save an 86-83 lead with two seconds left in the game.

RCC (11-6 overall, 2-0 MCAC South) had trailed 53-44 early in the second half and they were still down 79-73 with 6:02 left in the game.

“It’s our second game this semester where it was a close, tight game and we made our free throws and closed it out,” RCC head coach Dan Swift said. “For us to come back against this team was huge for us. This is the way we envisioned our second half to start.”

The Blue Devils, who have won seven straight, scored six straight points to tie things up at 79 with 4:38 left and both teams exchanged baskets before the Denzel Smith, a 6-3 forward from Kenosha, Wis., made the play of the night.

Smith got the ball on a breakaway with a few defenders in front of him and went up strong, drawing a foul and scooping in the shot from under the rim. Smith hit the free throw to give RCC an 84-81 lead with 2:19 left.

“The help defender moved over to the right because he thought I was going to pass it, so I went into the lane, drew a slap to the hand with the fake and then I switched it to the left hand (for the finish),” Smith, who had 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, said.

A-R (11-4 overall, 1-1 MCAC South) hit just two free throws in the last two minutes as Smith’s score gave the Blue Devils plenty of momentum.

“That was a huge lift and every time something big happens like that when it’s close, we always come out with a win,” Smith said. “It’s not just me, it’s Josh Davis, DeAaron Hearn, Nicco Montgomery or Richard Burch that are making plays like that too.”

The Blue Devils jumped out to an early 18-5 lead as Hearn, who had 24 points and four assists, hit a couple of early threes. But A-R used a 9-0 run to tie the game at 21 as the Blue Devil shooters went cold.

“At the beginning of the game we made a lot of shots, and it’s very easy to become jump shot happy,” Swift said. “We started falling in love with the jump shot.”

A-R picked up some more momentum when RCC had two turnovers to give the Rams four straight points in the last five seconds of the half to make it 44-40 A-R.

However Swift kept his emotions in check when he gave his halftime talk.

“The guys knew it when we got in (the locker room) and I let them know how I felt, but then we had to move on from there,” he said.

A-R 44 39 — 83

RCC 40 48 — 88

RCC scoring: DeAaron Hearn, 24; Denzel Smith, 20; Josh Davis, 16; Nicco Montgomery, 10; Richard Burch, 8; Taylor Oetken, 8; Jordan Jarland, 2; field goals: 49 percent (29-for-59); three-pointers: 37 percent (7-for-19); free throws: 70 percent (23-for-33); rebounds: 43 (Davis, 9); turnovers: 18

A-R scoring: Trey Scott, 19; Tyler Salkey, 14; Richard Harmon, 13; Matt Fridberg, 11; Dan Konz, 9; Ben Hill, 9; Tim Daniels, 8; field goals: 45 percent (33-for-73); three-pointers: 23 percent (3-for-13); free throws: 64 percent (14-for-22); rebounds: 37 (Harmon, 10); turnovers: 13