The Blue Devils didn’t back down against a hard charging Anoka-Ramsey team as Riverland finished strong to win 85-79 in Riverland Gym Saturday.

The Blue Devils (17-2 overall, 5-1 MCAC South) never trailed throughout the night and they led by as many as 18 in the first half, but the Rams pulled within 69-65 with 6:23 left in the game after Nashiem Lozier hit a three-pointer and converted a three-point play.

RCC had a big answer as Deandre Raggs, a sophomore from Minneapolis, scored inside and threw down an alley-oop dunk from freshman Terrell Smith in a 6-0 spurt that put RCC up 75-65 with five minutes left in the game. Raggs finished with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go with 13 rebounds and Smith had seven pints, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Raggs said the Blue Devils are maturing as the season goes along.

“It’ s confidence. When we (lost to) Rochester it was a lack of confidence. After that game we had to wake up and play with confidence. We had to start thinking every team is beatable,” Raggs said. “The freshmen are listening and learning to accept criticism. When we tell them they need to pass more or attack more, they’re not fighting with us.”

Sophomore Kwantez Simmons added 18 points and 12 rebounds for RCC, freshman Montrell Jacobs had 15 points and freshman Deandre Anderson had 14 points and five rebounds. RCC head coach Derek Hahn said leadership has been key for RCC, which has now five in a row.

“Our sophomore leadership has really come along ways. When things didn’t go well, we used to crumble early in the season,” Hahn said. “They’ve definitely started to mentor the freshmen class and some of our freshman guards are starting to come around and they’re playing well. The freshmen are learning how to win from the sophomores.”

RCC has made a habit of shutting teams down this season as well as the Blue Devils have held their last eight opponents to less than 80 points, with four of those teams scoring less than 70 points. The Rams (10-9 overall, 3-3 MCAC South) had just 37 points at halftime.

“Our defense has played really well this whole year and that’s whey we win a lot of games,” said RCC sophomore DeAndre Smith, who had four points Saturday.

AR 37  42  —  79

RCC 43  42  —  85

RCC scoring: Kwantez Simmons, 18; Deandre Raggs, 17; Montreal Jacobs, 15; Deandre Anderson, 14; Terrell Smith, 7; Uwana Etukakpan, 4; DeAndre Smith, 4; Izzy Holmes, Jr., 3; Brian Robinson, 2; Nyagoa Obany, 1; free throws: 65 percent (24-for-37); rebounds: 50 (Raggs, 14); turnovers: 10