One of the benefits of being the home team at the Breakdown Tip Off Classic is that you get to cap a great day of basketball with a game in front of your home fans. The only pitfall? It could start as late as 9:30 p.m.

Minnetonka certainly got started late, but when the Skippers and their fans revved their engines in the second half, they put away Robbinsdale Cooper. The Skippers surged past Cooper, 79-71 behind big second halves from Riley Dearring (16 of his 23 points) and Bremiah Snyder (10 of his 16 points).

Leading just 58-53 with about seven minutes left -- and the home crowd getting sleepy well past bed time -- Mike Fernando brought everyone to their feet with a thunderous alley-oop dunk. It sparked a 16-6 run that effectively put the game away.

Lavar McCullough tried to bring the Hawks back, pouring in a game-high 26 points, but Cooper could get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Rashad Vaughn added 15 points for the Hawks.

Score by half: Minnetonka 41-38--79, Robbinsdale Cooper 36-35--71

Minnetonka: Dearring 23, Snyder 16, Grosz 11, Moes 9, Kellogg 6, Taylor 3, Bonnette 1.

Robbinsdale Cooper: McCullough 26, Vaughn 15, Kellogg 10, Denson 9, Carson 5, Johnson 4, Taylor 2.