LA CROSSE, Wis. - UW-La Crosse nearly suffered their first loss of the season Wednesday night, scoring the game-winning basket with three seconds remaining, as they defeated Ripon 54-53. The game featured four ties and 13 lead changes.

The two teams traded baskets for the first several minutes, before UW-La Crosse went on a 26-10 run to take a 15-point lead with four and a half minutes remaining in the first half. Ripon (5-3) scored the final five points of the period to go into halftime trailing 31-21.

UW-La Crosse (7-0) continued to lead by double digits five minutes into the second half, before Ripon went on a 14-3 run to take a one-point lead on a Trent Jones free throw with nine minutes to play. The Red Hawks took a four-point advantage on a Kyle Rutkowski layup with under three minutes remaining, but UW-LaCrosse pulled within one on a Zac Haese 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. The lead would change hands three times in the final 30 seconds, with the final one coming on Haese's layup with three seconds to play.

Ripon was led by Jones' 17 points and four rebounds, while Seth Kostroski contributed 12 points. Owen Thuene grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds, while Rutkowski finished with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting.

Wyatt Cook led UW-La Crosse with 17 points, while Ethan Anderson and Haese each scored 15.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Saturday when they'll host UW-Stevens Point at 7 p.m. in Ripon. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.