WILLMAR -- The new year brings a new season in the Minnesota Community College Conference.
After going 5-7 in pre-conference games, this was Ridgewater's chance to get off to a fast start on its own floor to open Southern Division play.
But it was Rochester that turned it up in the last three minutes to escape with an 81-68 victory.
The Warriors, who led much of the game, fell behind 70-67 with less than three minutes to play. A four-point play by Cory Lott at 2:38 started an 11-1 Rochester run to end the game.
"They ran right by us at the end," said Shane Kopischke, the Warriors' first-year coach. "They were in better condition."
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Ridgewater fell behind 11-3 to start the game but used a nine-point run to take the lead 12-11. Tony Kley's 12 points helped the Warriors build a 31-23 lead with 1:30 left in the half, but Rochester rallied to close the gap to four points, 35-31, by halftime.
"We could have almost put them away right there," said Kopischke, "but we tried to get cute (with the ball) and they closed it back up."
Dante Bogard finished with 14 points, Kley 13 and Jake Meyers nine and Travis Epema and Wesley Kitt eight each. Larry Player fouled out with 6:33, hurting Ridgewater's inside game.
The Yellowjackets, 8-4 and ranked third in the coaches' poll coming in, were efficient, shooting 53 percent on 28 of 53. The Warriors shot 38 percent (26 of 69). They were a cool 6 of 28 (21 percent) on treys.
Matt Ganglehoff led Rochester with 19 points.
Rochester 81, Ridgewater 68
Rochester (1-0, 9-4) 31 50 -- 81
Ridgewater (0-1, 5-8) 35 33 -- 68
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ROCHESTER TECHNICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE - 28-53 FG (7-16 3 pt); 18-21 FT; 39 rebounds; 14 fouls ... Scoring: Tyler Lodermeier 2-2 2-3 6, Matt Gangelhoff 7-14 2-2 19, Brett Schernecker 2-3 1-2 5, Luke Blood 2-4 2-2 7, Cory Lott 4-14 1-1 11, Corey Ryan 4-7 3-3 12, Brian Sather 1-1 2-2 4, Joey Kollar 6-8 5-6 17 ... 3-point shots: Blood 1-2, Lott 2-5, Ryan 1-1 , Gangelhoff 3-8 ... Rebound leader: Lott 8, Ryan 8, Kollar 7... Assist leader: Schernecker 55 ... Steal leader: Ryan 2
RIDGEWATER COLLEGE - 26-69 FG (6-28 3 pt); 10-12 FT; 31 rebounds; 20 fouls ... Scoring: Travis Epema 4-11 0-0 8, Shawn Thissen 2-7 0-0 6, Dante Bogard 4-7 4-4 14, Tony Kley 6-12 1-2 13, Wesley Kitt 4-10 0-1 8, Preston Looman 1-2 0-0 3, Larry Player 3-6 1-1 7, Jake Meyers 2-10 4-4 9 ... 3-point shots: Thissen 2-5, Bogard 2-5, Looman 1-1, Meyers 1-4 ... Rebound leader: Meyers 7, Epema 6 ... Assist leader: Kitt 4, Kley 3, Player 3 ... Steal leader: Kitt 6, Thissen 3
NEXT -- Ridgewater: at Minnesota West, Worthington, 1 p.m. Saturday.
