Box Score

DE PERE, Wis. - Ripon scored 75 points in the second half and shot 61 percent (46-76) from the field Friday afternoon, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early deficit, as the Red Hawks' season ended in the Midwest Conference semifinals with a 122-115 loss to Grinnell. The Pioneers didn't miss early on, making 10 of thier first 12 3-pointers and 61 percent (27-44) of their 3-point shots in the game.

Grinnell's early shooting display, which included a stretch of nine consecutive 3-pointers, helped build an 18-point advantage mid-way through the first half. With that lead cut to 12 with just under five minutes left in the period, Grinnell (19-5) finished the period on a 15-6 run to take a 61-40 lead to the locker room. Both teams shot at least 60 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.

After failing to make a single 3-pointer in the first half, Ripon (15-9) mounted a comeback in the second behind the long ball, making 11 shots from downtown. Unfortunately for the Red Hawks, Grinnell also made 11 threes in the final 20 minutes. The two teams traded baskets for much of the first five minutes of the second half, before back-to-back 3-pointers by Ty Sabin and a jumper by Justin Leistikow cut the lead to 13 in a matter of a minute and a half. Ripon whittled the lead to 10 with 10 and a half minutes left and pulled to within single digits on a Kyle Loughrin basket with two and a half minutes remaining. A three-point play by Brad Brooks cut the lead to seven with 34 seconds on the clock, but that was as close as the score would get, as Grinnell converted 11-of-13 free throws in the final two minutes, while shooting 85 percent (23-27) from the charity stripe for the game.

In his final game as a Red Hawk, Brooks recorded his eighth career double-double, scoring 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, while tying a career-high with 13 rebounds (nine offensive). Sabin and Loughrin led the Red Hawks with team-highs of 29 points and six assists apiece, while combining to shoot 57 percent (8-14) from 3-point range. Brendan McCoy added 15 points off the bench, making 3-of-6 from long range.

Grinnell was led by 29 points from Luke Yeager, who shot 5-of-8 from behind the arc. Julian Marx added 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting from 3-point range, while Kyle Parker made 4-of-5 3-pointers to finish with 20 points. Jack Taylor chipped in with 11 points and seven assists, while Patrick Maher posted 10 points and 10 assists.

Ripon's 15 wins is tied for the most victories in a single season in the last nine years. The Red Hawks finish the season with school records for 3-pointers made (179) and free throw percentage (.797), while finishing with the fifth-highest 3-point percentage (.411), ninth-most points (1,985) and 10th-highest field goal percentage (.505).