The Riverland Community College men’s basketball team made another second half surge, but it’s three-game winning streak was put to an end when it let 79-75 to Gustavus JV in its home opener in Riverland Gym Saturday.

The Blue Devils (3-1 overall) trailed by as many as eight points in the second half, but they rallied back to tie the game at 48-48 with 10 minutes left. Gustavus JV responded with a run to build up a seven-point lead and the Blue Devils pulled to within three points before coming up short.

The freshman backcourt of Junior Stone, who had 18 points, and Jace Klinker, who had 15 points, and Junior Stone, who had 18 points, stepped up for RCC.

“We expect to win every single game and when you lose you’re never satisfied. But there’s definitely some positives,” RCC head coach Derek Hahn said. “Jace and Junior played well down the stretch and they gave us a chance to win it.”

Former Lyle-Pacelli standout Noah Jiskra had 11 points in the win for Gustavus JV. Jiskra was excited to be back in Austin playing in front of some familiar faces in the crowd.

“I’ve been looking forward to this game. It was great to get back in town. I had butterflies again and it was great to see [RCC players] Mark Manyuon, my old teammate and James Landherr,” Jiskra said. “[College] is a lot faster [than high school] and I’m still trying to get a accustomed to that. With a new team you’ve got to fill out a new role and I’m comfortable with where I’m at and I’m having fun.”

For the fourth straight game, the Blue Devils started slow and Hahn is hoping to buck that trend in the future.

“All season long we’ve been having difficulty out of the gates and that’s just not cutting it,” Hahn said. “We’ve got to start starting better, there’s no doubt about that. To win games, you’ve got to play a full forty minutes.”

RCC scoring: Junior Stone, 18; Jace Klinker, 15; Darius Bell, 12; Abdibbari Abdikiadir, 10; Samuel Kuany, 9; Donte Makazue, 6; Dalek Roberts, 2