Robinette, Norse Bounce Back To Win In Minnesota

COON RAPIDS, Minn.---The Bay College men’s basketball team finished the game by outscoring the Anoka-Ramsey Golden Rams, 21-3, Sunday night to post a 76-59 win in the Minneapolis suburbs. The win gave the Norse a weekend road trip split after falling the night before to Rochester Tech.

Ryan Robinette nailed six three-pointers and finished with 26 points, one day after he made just one basket in the team’s loss.

The Escanaba High School graduate also had eight rebounds and dished out three assists. He played 34 of the 40 minutes and committed just two turnovers.

Christian Alexander added 13 points, including a two-handed slam dunk during the first half that ended with the Norse holding a 39-32 lead. Alexander added six rebounds in his 25 minutes on the floor, and committed just two fouls.

Those were the only two players to score in double figures, but there were plenty of contributors. Chris Dobessi distributed the ball well, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds, along with three assists. Marcus Harris hit two more triples after nailing three of them the day before and finished with eight points.

Robinette had 14 of his points in the first half, including two straight driving layups that helped the Norse take a 23-16 lead. After the Rams closed to within 28-20, Harris had a triple and a pair of free throws to make it 28-20.

Alexander’s dunk made it 36-28, and Tyler Beauchamp came in off the bench to drain a triple from the left corner to make it a 39-32 game.

Two triples by Robinette and one by Matt Wagner gave the Norse a 48-39 lead in the second half, and Tristan Masuga’s jump shot opened the lead up to 52-40.

But the Rams went on a 10-0 run to cut the Norse lead to 52-50.

Masuga nailed a triple to put his team back up, 55-50, but the home team scored six straight points to take their first lead of the game at 56-55. The D.J. Pettigrew triple was one of only a few that Anoka-Ramsey made, as the usually-hot shooting team was ice cold from behind the long arch, making only 6-of-44 triple tries.

Trailing for the first time, the Norse responded with an 11-0 run as Robinette drained two more triples to regain control of the game. The Norse made 11-of-24 three-point attempts and overall, shot just under 50-percent from the floor (26-for-54).

One down side for the Norse was Anoka-Ramsey’s domination on the offensive glass.

The Rams had 26 offensive rebounds, leading to 25 second chance points. Nashiem Lozier had 11 of those offensive rebounds for the Rams, and he finished with a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds.

Pettigrew added 12 points and Dylan Hay chipped in eleven points. The Rams fell to 7-4 on the season after beating Bismarck State the night before.

Bay College improved to 8-6 on the season and will be off for the next two weeks until they open 2020 by hosting a four-team tournament in Escanaba.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos, hear post-game comments from Johnson, and Tristan Masuga’s player spotlight interview.