Box Score

LAKE FOREST, Ill. - The Red Hawks earned a gritty 61-58 road victory over Lake Forest College Tuesday night, behind a game-high 25 points from junior guard Kyle Loughrin. The win, coupled with Carroll's loss to St. Norbert, moves Ripon into third place in the Midwest Conference standings, just one-half game ahead of Carroll.

Neither team led by double digits in the game, but Lake Forest did their best to keep Ripon at arm's length in the first half. The Forester took an early 11-5 lead, but Ripon battled back, cutting the lead to one on a Jordan Stiede 3-pointer. Lake Forest then scored seven consecutive points to take the largest lead of the game for either team at eight points. LFC led by eight again with under four minutes left in the half, before Ripon rallied with eight consecutive points on a pair of Ty Ketz 3-pointers and two Loughrin free throws to tie the score with under one minute in the period. Loughrin added a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Red Hawks a three-point lead at the half.

The second half was even more tightly contested, featuring five ties and four lead changes, as neither team led by more than four points in the period. With the score tied at 55 with under a minute and a half to play, Brad Brooks picked a great time to make his first field goal of the night, as his jumper gave Ripon the lead for good. After a Loughrin layup put the Red Hawks up four, Lake Forest made things interesting, as James Stack hit a 30-footer for the Foresters to cut the lead to one. Ty Sabin then made two free throws, but Ripon still had to hold on as Stack got another good look at the buzzer, but this time, his 3-pointer clanged off the rim.

Sabin was second on the team with 14 points, while Ketz's nine points all came from behind the 3-point line. Loughrin and Ketz also combined for seven steals, while Brooks led the team with seven rebounds. The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 42 percent (21-50) from the field. The number one free throw shooting team in Division-III also made 80 percent (12-15) of thier foul shots.

Lake Forest was led by Stack's 24 points, while Brian Madson and Torrey Davis each scored seven. The Foresters shot 40 percent (20-50) from the field, while converting 67 percent (12-18) of their free throws.

Ripon will try to extend their win streak to three games on Saturday when they'll travel to Illinois College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill. and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal#.