The Anoka-Ramsey Community College Men's Basketball team remained unbeaten to start the season with a 79-63 win over Mesabi Range, and a 94-73 win over Vermilion this past weekend.
On Friday night, the Golden Rams jumped out to a 27-4 lead midway through the first half.
Mesabi chipped away at the lead and pulled within 33-25 with two minutes left in the period before two Kevin Schramm free throws, a Malik Williams three-pointer, and a three from Schramm gave Anoka-Ramsey a 41-28 lead at the break.
Mamadou Ngom started the second half with a dunk to push the lead back to 15 points.
But Mesabi continued to fight, particularly on the offensive boards to cut the deficit back down to five, 53-48 with 11:22 to play.
A three from Mahad Haji, another three from Williams, and a three-point play from Chris Morgan extended the lead back to 11 points.
Williams would make a layup with 3:54 to put the lead back up to 16 points and the Golden Rams would hold on with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.
Anoka-Ramsey shot 43.9 percent overall and held Mesabi to just 31.6 percent. The Golden Rams also held a 21-7 edge in made free throws.
Ngom led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Williams scored 13 points.
Schramm finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Morgan pulled in 12 rebounds.
In Saturday's tilt the Golden Rams once again jumped out to a big lead early, only to have the opponent fight back into the game.
All five starters scored early in building a 14-0 lead just four minutes into the game.
The lead ballooned to 21-2 after a Chris Morgan dunk, but Vermilion would start to get hot.
Two three-pointers and a three-point play cut the Anoka-Ramsey lead to 23-11, then a 10-0 Vermilion run would make the score 23-21 with 11 minutes left in the half.
A 31-27 lead with 8:12 would get extended to 38-27 with consecutive Mahad Haji three-pointers.
The offensive onslaught would continue until Anoka-Ramsey had built a 55-35 lead at the break.
A slow start to the second half would allow Vermilion to gain life again as the lead quickly dropped to ten points, 57-47.
A Kevin Schramm jumper, a Zane Lind three-pointer, and two Ramose Riddley free throws would push the lead back to 64-47 and Vermilion would get no closer than 13 points the rest of the way as Anoka-Ramsey built a 30 point lead with two minutes to play.
The Golden Rams shot 49.3 percent overall and connected on 11 of 30 shots from beyond the arc.
Morgan led the way with 20 points and ten rebounds for his first double-double.
Ngom finished with 19 points to go with nine assists and seven rebounds.
Edvonte Copeland scored 12 points and Lind finished with 11.
The Golden Rams are 9-0 on the season and will host Bismarck State on December 16 at 8pm, then metro-area rival Dakota County Tech on December 17 at 5pm.