GRINNELL, Iowa – Three days after one of the biggest wins in the program's recent history that snapped #7 St. Norbert's 72-game conference winning streak, the Ripon men's basketball team suffered a setback at Grinnell, narrowly losing to the Pioneers 104-101. The Red Hawks trailed for all but the first five minutes of the game, but nearly completed a furious comeback after falling behind by 16 points with eight minutes remaining in the second half.
 
Ripon (12-3, 8-2 MWC) scored the game's first five points, but an early Grinnell rally tied the score at 11 just four minutes into the contest. Vinny Curta then hit a jumper to give Grinnell (9-6, 6-4 MWC) a lead that they would never relinquish. The Pioneers led by as many as 11 in the half, but the lead was cut to six at halftime.
 
The second half saw Grinnell lead from start to finish, but it wasn't easy. Leading by 16 with eight minutes to play, Ripon made one final push, scoring seven consecutive points to pull within single digits with six and a half minutes on the clock. After Grinnell pushed their lead back to 11, Ripon scored eight consecutive points, including 3-pointers by Ty Sabin and Brendan McCoy to cut the lead to three with three and a half minutes remaining. With six seconds left, Ripon had a chance to tie, but Sabin converted two of three free throws to cut the lead to one and after a pair of Grinnell free throws, Ripon's desperation heave didn't find the net, giving the Pioneers the victory.
 
Sabin led Ripon with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. That gives him more than 2,200 career points, which is just 11 shy of the third-highest total in Midwest Conference history. Cal Schultz added 15 points off the bench, while Isaac Masters tied a career-high with 14 points. Freshman Kyle Rutkowski registered his first career double-double with career-highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while making 5-of-6 shots from the field. The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 59 percent (35-59) from the field, including 56 percent (9-16) from 3-point range, but converted just 64 percent (22-34) of their free throws.
 
Grinnell was led by Vinny Curta's game-high 35 points. Ky-Sean Johnson and Jacob Ekstrand added 21 and 20 points, respectively. The Pioneers finished the game shooting 43 percent (30-70) from the field and 42 percent (14-33) from 3-point range, while converting 83 percent (30-36) of their free throws.
 
Still in second place in the MWC, Ripon will look to rebound on Wednesday when they'll host Beloit College at 7:30 p.m. at Storzer Center in Ripon.