Men's basketball: Warriors take out SCTC
WILLMAR — A revitalized Ridgewater College men’s team stormed out of their halftime locker room and put up 64 points on St. Cloud Tech and the Warriors opened their MCAC South Division schedule with a 91-64 victory on Wednesday at the Ridgewater gym.
The Warriors, now 7-7 overall, followed up 28 percent shooting with a 60 percent effort in the second half and five Ridgewater players scored in double figures.
“We had a little talk at halftime about scoring,” Warriors head coach Bob Knutson said with a laugh. “We had so many open looks and we just couldn’t get the ball to fall. We can shoot better than that. If we can get that confidence back, this team can shoot the ball.”
Terrance Lockett led all scorers with 30 points and Neil Helgeson had 21.
Jordan Schwarz scored 8 of his 10 points in the first half to help the Warriors stay close and keep the halftime deficit at three points. Schwarz led the Warriors with 9 rebounds.
Zak Pendleton score 11 points and Beau Herrig had 10 points and 8 boards.
Lockett, Herrig and Pendleton all had 4 assists.
Now, the going gets tough, however, with Ridgewater traveling to Rochester for a 3 p.m. game Saturday. Rochester is ranked in NJCAA Division III’s top 10 this season.
“Our league is really tough again,” Knutson said. “We’re going to have to really compete hard against these teams.”
Ridgewater 91, SC Tech 69
St. Cloud Tech 30 39 — 69
Ridgewater 27-64 — 91
ST. CLOUD TECHNICAL COLLEGE – 26-66 FG (9-26 3-pt); 8-18 FT; 44 rebounds; 20 fouls … Scoring: Jett Leaf 18, Riley West 4, Alex Matchinsky 14, Brandon Marek 2, Leland Harris 6, Nate Vang 4, Jared Noonan 7, Zach Jiskra 14 … 3-point shots: Leaf 3, Matchinsky 2, Harris 2, Jiskra 2 … Rebound leaders: Noonan 7, Matchinsky 7 … Assist leaders: Noonan 5 … Steal leaders: Jiskra 2, Matchinsky 2
RIDGEWATER – 33-76 FG (9-24 3-pt); 16-27 FT; 49 rebounds; 15 fouls … Scoring: Zak Pendleton 11, Neil Helgeson 21, Terrance Lockett 30, Jake Rambow 6, Jordan Schwarz 10, Jones Green 1, Jeremy Olson 2, Beau Herrig 10 … 3-point shots: Pendleton 1, Helgeson 5, Lockett 2, Rambow 1 … Rebound leaders: Schwarz 9, Herrig 8 … Assist leaders: Pendleton 4, Lockett 4, Herrig 4 … Steal leaders: Helgeson 2, Lockett 2
