Minneapolis Community College coach Jay Pivec is not convinced how good his team is, but his Marauders made believers out of Riverland.

The MCCC's second-ranked Marauders, undefeated leaders of the South Division, made it 16 straight victories with a 108-79 shellacking of the host Blue Devils Wednesday night in Austin. Minneapolis (17-1, 6-0) is the seventh-ranked team in the National Junior College Athletic Association's latest Division III poll, released Tuesday.

"They're pretty much untouchable," said Riverland coach David Lillemon. "We've got to start thinking about Saturday, period. We played everybody tough, except for Minneapolis, and now we start over."

The Devils (5-13) went 0-6 through the first half of the South Division schedule. Riverland's second go-round with the rest of the league starts Saturday at 4 p.m. at home against Minnesota West. The Devils lost by 15 at Worthington after starting center Jake Bettis went down with a knee injury that ended his season.

Filling Bettis' void -- in scoring, rebounding and size -- has been a problem since the division opener, but the Blue Devils gave it a go against one of the best teams in the nation Wednesday night at home.

"They're so deep, they're so impressive," Lillemon said. "They had 10 guys with six points or more.

"Our gameplan was to try to spread it around and shoot it, and I felt we did that. I'm pleased with our effort."

Minneapolis had just three scorers in double figures, but as Lillemon said it was the Marauders' balance that did in the Devils.

"It's been that way," Coach Pivec said. "We don't know if we're that good or if the league is down this year, but it's just been that way.

"We certainly had a size advantage. I feel bad that Jake (Bettis) is out because he can match up with us inside."

Ten of Minneapolis' 13 players on Wednesday's roster were 6-4 or taller, and the tallest three were on the court for the final 10 minutes. Pivec took his starters out with a 79-53 lead around the 11-minute mark, and the margin increased to as much as 35 before the final buzzer.

Riverland never led in the game.

Without 6-5 Bettis, Mark Skellenger (6-7) is Riverland's only player above 6-3. Bettis said before last Wednesday's home game against Bethany Lutheran that knee surgery was imminent and that his season was done. He said that matching up with Minneapolis was the games he anticipated the most.

The Marauders led by as many as 17 in the first half, and a 10-0 run early in the second half spurred the advantage to 24. Divison I prospect Andy Hannan, who has been pursued by Wisconsin and Marquette, scored four straight, and Kevin Tendall scored six of his team-leading 18 points in the same stretch.

The final margin of 29 was Riverland's worst loss this season. Minneapolis, which averaged 90.3 points per game entering Wednesday's contest, scored over 100 points for the fourth time this season.

"We had good balance, it was good to see Adam Kasper get back into it," Lillemon said. "And Jeff Roemhildt is filling a little void from Jake. We've just got to keep scrapping.

"We have nothing to be ashamed of."

The Devils shot 39 percent from the floor, attempting more three-pointers (39) than two-point field goals (33). Andy Stouvenel led the Blue Devils with 19 points and eight rebounds. Kasper scored 15 of his 18 in the second half, while Curt Peterson added 13 and Roemhildt had 11.

"We've got to get Saturday's game, and that's our focus right now," Lillemon said.

Boxscore:

MINNEAPOLIS (108) -- Akbar Abdul-Ahad 8, Tyler Pivec 4, Jamar Fox 2, Josh Franzen 6, Andy Hannan 14, Brian Buck 9, Eric Ables 14, Joey Small 8, Tony Dorn 5, Kevin Tendall 18, Mark Bauch 6, Grant Hemmingsen 7, Maurice Lucarivac 7.

RIVERLAND (79) -- Kelly Connaughty 5, Curt Peterson 13, Adam Kasper 18, Calvin Morris 6, John Tillo 5, Andy Stouvenel 19, Jeff Roemhildt 11, Mark Skellenger 2.

Halftime score--Mpls 48, Riv 33. Field goals--Mpls 43-77, Riv 28-72. Three-pointers--Mpls 8-27 (Ables 4-8, Franzen 2-4, Dorn 1-2, Hemmingsen 1-3, Abdul-Ahad 0-5, Tendall 0-2, Hannan 0-2, Pivec 0-1); Riv 13-39 (Kasper 4-7, Peterson 3-9, Stouvenel 3-10, Connaughty 1-3, Tillo 1-3, Morris 1-7). Free-throws--Mpls 14-22, Riv 10-15. Rebounds--Mpls 50 (Tendall 11, Small 7); Riv 31 (Stouvenel 8, Kasper, Skellenger 5). Team fouls--Mpls 12, Riv 17. Fouled out--none.