The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team defeated Madison College 85-83, and fell to Milwaukee Tech 104-97 in overtime for their first two games of the season.

Both games were played at the Border Battle Classic in Madison, WI.

Vs. Madison College (W 85-83)

The Golden Rams fell behind 7-1 to start the game, but responded with a 10-4 run to tie the score 11-11 with 15:19 to play.

Turnovers began to doom the Golden Rams as Madison went on a 15-3 run to take a 26-14 lead with 10 minutes left in the half.  Anoka-Ramsey committed five turnovers over that stretch.

Still trailing 32-22 with 5:38 left in the half, Anoka-Ramsey embarked on a 15-5 run, puntuated by a three-pointer from Edvonte Copeland, to tie the score 37 apiece at the break.

Anoka-Ramsey shot 42.3 percent from the field in the opening period, and held Madison to just 38.9 percent.  However, 11 turnovers led to 14 Wolfpack points.

The second half would be a back-and-forth affair with nine ties and 14 lead changes.

Josh Jackson opened the second half with a layup to give the Golden Rams their first lead 39-37.

For the next ten minutes, neither team led by more than three points.

A Wolfpack three-pointer gave Madison a 62-57 lead with 9:45 to play, but Raol Rose would hit a jumper, followed by a Falmata Tula layup to cut the deficit to 62-61.

After two Madison free throws, a Jackson layup, and one of two free throws from Harley Shear would knot the score at 64.

The Golden Rams would take a 68-64 lead on a putback by Mamadou Ngom, but Madison responded with a 11-2 run to take a 75-70 lead with 4:14 to play.

Back-to-back baskets by Copeland and Tula again cut the deficit to one followed by two free throws from Madison College to push the lead to three.

Tula would score again and Tyler Matsen would knock down a three-pointer off a Madison turnover to give the Golden Rams a 79-77 lead with 2:19 left.

Madison scored the next four points to regain the lead, and Copeland made one of two free throws to pull within one.

Two Madison free throws pushed the lead back to three, 83-80 with 37 seconds left setting up a dramatic finish.

After a Golden Ram timeout, Jackson would score a layup while being fouled and complete the three-point play to tie the score 83 apiece.

Madison would try holding for the last shot, but Tula knocked the ball away from the ball-handler, Shear picked up the loose ball, and found Matsen at half-court who hit Copeland streaking down the right side for a layup with 4.6 seconds left.

Madison put up an off-balance, contested 40 footer as time expired and the Golden Rams escaped with the two point win.

Copeland finished with a team-high 21 points on 6 of 11 shooting including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, and 6 of 8 from the free throw line.

Tula scored 19 points off the bench making 7 of 11 shots and all five free throws.

Jackson finished with 11 points, and Matsen and Collin Price each chipped in ten points.

Ngom led the rebounding with eight.

Anoka-Ramsey shot 58.1 percent in the second half to finish at 50.9 percent for the game including a 7 of 17 effort (41.2 percent) from the three-point line.

Vs. Milwaukee Tech (L 104-97 OT)

The Golden Rams faced a tough Milwaukee Tech team at noon on Saturday and once again had an exciting finish in a foul, and turnover, plagued game.

With 72 fouls called on the afternoon neither team could get into an offensive rhythm.

Milwaukee Tech built a seven point lead, 17-10 with 11:49 to play in the opening half, and would lead by nine, 36-27, with 2:22 to play before a 9-0 run by Anoka-Ramsey tied the score.  Tula had a three-point play, Matsen knocked down a three-pointer, Rose added a free throw, and Shear scored on an offensive rebound during the run.

A fall-away three-pointer at the buzzer gave Milwaukee Tech a 42-39 lead at halftime.

Turnovers were again the biggest first half culprit as the Golden Rams turned it over 17 times in the period.

The Golden Ram defense struggled to open the second half as Milwaukee Tech opened a 58-46 lead with just under 16 minutes left in the game.

The deficit would stay above seven until two free throws by Matsen cut it to 66-61 with 11 minutes left, followed by a free throw from Mahad Haji to trim the deficit to 66-62.

Milwaukee pushed the lead back to ten with 8:40 to play, then to 11 (77-66) with six minutes left.

But Anoka-Ramsey wasn't done yet.

A 15-8 run over a five minute stretch closed the gap to 85-81 with 1:23 to play.  Tula would account for seven of those Golden Ram points.

Matsen was fouled with 37 seconds left and made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to 85-82.

The Golden Rams would force a turnover on a press, and Matsen knocked down a three-pointer to tie the score with 21 seconds to play.

A missed three by Milwaukee on the final possession of regulation would send the game to overtime.

Fouls began to impact the Golden Rams in the extra period.  After Tula gave Anoka-Ramsey a 87-85 lead, Milwaukee would hit four straight free throws to regain the lead and eventually push the lead to eight.

Anoka-Ramsey was unable to get closer than four the rest of the way as three players fouled out and Milwaukee capitalized making nine free throws in the overtime period.

The Golden Rams shot 47.6 percent from the field, but committed 30 turnovers and gave up 20 offensive rebounds to Milwaukee.

Copeland finished with 19 points.

Tula recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds.

Matsen scored 14 points making 3 of 5 three-pointers.

Price, Ngom, and Haji each scored ten points.

The Golden Rams will travel to Wahpeton, ND for two games this Friday and Saturday.

On Friday, Anoka-Ramsey will face Dakota College-Bottineau at 4pm, the North Dakota State College of Science at 6pm on Saturday.