WORTHINGTON – The fundamentally strong Rochester Yellowjackets beat the Minnesota West Bluejays in men’s basketball on Wednesday night 91-75.
RCTC led at the half 51-38.
The Yellowjackets started the game hot with a 10-2 scoring run. After a timeout, Minnesota West was able to go shot for shot with the Yellowjackets and trailed five minutes into the first half 17-13.
After an RCTC timeout, the Bluejays offense began to cool while the Yellowjackets remained consistent. The Bluejays shot 12-of-36 from the floor in the first half.
Minnesota West showed great poise in drawing shooting fouls in the first half, as the Bluejays connected on 13-of-15 free throw attempts. RCTC limited the Bluejays’ trips to the foul line in the second half to three.
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“We've got to make shots and slow the game down to play at our pace better. That is what makes the difference,” said Bluejays coach Brian Stoebner. “When we get good looks, I can live with missed shots. It is when we do not get good looks and take bad shots, it is like a turnover.”
The leading scorer for the Bluejays was Bie Ruei who scored 26 points. Ruei is a 6’5 freshman from Sioux City, Iowa and plays to the full extent of his wide-reaching wingspan. Ruei had eight rebounds, two steals and a block.
“He is long as heck and he can really frustrate guys. He kind of lures guys into taking the jumpshot thinking they are more open than they are and gets a block,” said Stoebner. “Our guys know they have got to move the ball and play together. When we do not do that stuff we are not a great team. If we move the basketball side to side and share it, we get better looks and guys get easy scores. When we start moving the ball we get easier looks, and that leads to more confidence in your shooting.”
Sam Daho scored 14 points for Minnesota West after coming off the bench. Daho had four shifty steals, and showed great chemistry with Ruei in the transition game. Eli Williams had 12 points, and Kong Neyail had nine points.
Rochester Community and Technical College's leading scorer was Kameron Givens who scored 27 points. The Yellowjackets had 18 offensive rebounds, and scored on several second chance opportunities. Peyton Dunham had 15 points for RCTC and Quest McCrimon had 10 points.
“Defensively we have got to get better, it's tough to win games giving up 90 points,” said Stoebner. “That is going to be the difference.”
The Minnesota West Bluejays will travel to play St. Cloud Technical and Community College on Saturday.
YELLOWJACKETS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) – McCrimon 2-2-0-10, Givens 0-11-5-27, Lotz 0-1-3-5, Crockett 0-2-2-6, Dunham 0-7-1-15, Burland 1-0-0-3, Izoura 0-2-0-4, Herrmann 1-1-0-5, Smaller 1-1-0-5, Bonow 1-3-0-9, Warmka 0-1-0-2. Totals 6-31-11-91.
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BLUEJAYS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) – Ruei 3-7-3-26, Drent 0-3-0-6, Neyail 1-2-2-9, Williams 2-2-2-12, Ndumbe 0-1-1-3, Dorian 1-0-2-5, Daho 0-5-4-14. Totals 7-20-14-75.
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