Rams top Blue Devil men
Published 10:31 pm Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Riverland's Zach Bunch cuts traffic on the way to the net against Anoka Ramsey Wednesday night Riverland Community College. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
The Riverland men’s basketball team couldn’t match up with Anoka-Ramsey’s height in an 80-57 loss in Riverland Gym Wednesday.
The Blue Devils (8-6 overall, 0-1 MCAC South) led 12-8 after an Andrew Kaiser three with 12:25 left in the first half, but the Rams scored the next 10 points and RCC never took the lead again.
Zach Bunch scored to make it a 25-21 game with 55 seconds left in the half, but the Rams (11-3 overall, 1-0 MCAC South) scored the last four points of the first half and the first three points of the second half to push it to a double digit lead.
Riverland's Keith Thames cuts into the lane off a break against Anoka Ramsey Wednesday night in the first half at Riverland. - Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
“We knew they were strong and big, but we stuck with them in the first half and our defense was good,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “In the second half, we played about as poor as we have all year. We stood around on offense and we were stagnant.”
RCC’s Denzel Smith, who had 19 points and nine rebounds and Bunch, who scored 17 points, didn’t have trouble getting near the rim, but the Rams’ front line forced the duo to miss 19 shots between them.
“We had to adjust a lot of shots because of their height,” Koenigs said.
AR 29 51 — 80
RCC 21 36 — 57
RCC scoring: Denzel Smith, 19; Zach Bunch, 17; Andrew Kaiser, 9; Jordan Osberg, 4; Cody Meyer, 4; Keith Thames, 2; Marcus Ratliff, 2; field goals: 27 percent (16-for-59); free throws: 77 percent (20-for-26); three-pointers: 21 percent (5-for-24); rebounds: 31 (Smith, 9); turnovers: 16
