Raiders rally for victory

WILLMAR - Freshmen Nash Faulk and Marcus Ayala both scored 16 points to lead the Central Lakes College Raiders to a 69-66 season-opening victory over Ridgewater Tuesday.

Faulk was 5-of-9 from behind the arc to spur a Raiders second-half comeback. CLC trailed 34-24 at the half, but held Ridgewater to 37-percent shooting to pull out the win.

"We had to get out the first game jitters and we had a lot of them in the first half," said Raiders head coach Jim Russell. "We only scored 24 points because we never got into any rhythm. The second half we settled down and played much better and took some good shots."

Ahmed Farah tallied 11 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and Erik Peeters added eight points and eight boards.

Former Pierz Pioneers Mike Weber and Breck Weber combined for 12 points for Ridgewater.

Central Lakes 24 45 - 69

Ridgewater 34 32 - 66

CENTRAL LAKES

Marcus McDonald 2, Marcus Ayala 16, Caleb Nurnberger 3, Nash Faulk 16, Erik Peeters 8, Yasin Jama 3, Ahmed Farah 11, Nick Grewe 6, Milos Prijovic 2, Filip Vukasin 2. Team totals: FG 25-76 (33 percent), FT 10-16 (63 percent), 3-point baskets: 9-26 (Ayala 1, Nurnberger 1, Faulk 5, Peeters 1, Farah 1). Overall: 1-0. Next: in Madison Fall Classic in Madison, Wisc. Friday.

RIDGEWATER

Shawn Neu 14, Tyler Stein 13, Breck Weber 4, Mike Weber 8, Caleb DuFrane 1, Casey Sussenguth 18, Nathan Nietfield 8. Team totals: FG 24-65 (37 percent), FT 13-18 (72 percent), 3-point baskets: 5-17 (Neu 1, Stein 3, Sussenguth 1). Overall: 0-1.