COON RAPIDS — The Rochester Community and Technical College men's basketball team survived and advanced during the opening round of the MCAC State Tournament on Friday.
RCTC, the top seed from the South Division, had its hands full but rallied past Rainy River, the No. 4 seed from the North, 81-74.
After leading by 16 at one point in the first half, RCTC was down 74-70 win just over three minutes to play. But the Yellowjackets, ranked fifth in the nation in Division III, closed the game with an 11-0 run.
"What a game," RCTC coach Brian LaPlante said.
The game was tied at 74-74 with just over a minute left. RCTC snapped the tie when Lavar McCullough scored on an alley-opp dunk with a minute to play.
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The Yellowjackets then made five free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
"We hit free throws down the stretch to win the game," LaPlante said.
Justyn Galloway led RCTC with 24 points and he was 12-for-12 at the line. The guard also had six rebounds.
Guard Rob Claypool added16 points, three assists and two steals.
"He played a big part keeping us in the game the second half," LaPlante said.
Demetrius Cady and Keiron Sauer had nine points each for the Yellowjackets while Ben Ratliff chipped in with seven. Sauer had a team-high 11 rebounds and Ratliff added 10.
RCTC shot 44 percent from the floor (27-for-62), made 7 of 19 3-pointers and was 20-for-25 at the line, which proved to be a big factor.
Rainy River shot 36 percent (30-for-82), made 9 of 29 3-pointers and was 5-for-7 at the line.
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Sophomore Sam Stirgus single handily kept Rainy River alive in the second half. He finished the game with 31 points and nine rebounds while making 7 of 22 shots from 3-point range.
"He made some deep, deep threes," LaPlante said.
RCTC (24-4) will face Central Lakes in the state semifinals at 3 p.m. Saturday. Central Lakes, ranked No. 9 in the country, beat Minnesota West 85-72 in the quarterfinals.
The RCTC-Central Lakes winner advances to the championship game at 3 p.m. Sunday at Anoka-Ramsey Community College with a trip to the national tournament on the line.
