RIPON, Wis. - Thursday's game wasn't decided until the final seconds, as Lake Forest escaped with a 73-69 win against the Red Hawks. The Foresters shot 51 percent (2-55) from the field, including 53 percent (9-17) from 3-point range, while Ripon converted 43 percent (27-63) of their field goals and 27 percent (6-22) of their long-range shots.

Ripon (11-9, 7-6 MWC) scored the first five points of the game, but neither team led by more than that margin until mid-way through the first half when Lake Forest (13-7, 9-4 MWC) took a seven point lead on a jumper by Jordan Moran. The Foresters would then take a 10-point lead, only to see the Red Hawks come back to cut that lead to two. The Foresters would close the half on a 10-2 run to take a 10-point lead into halftime.

After Lake Forest took a 14-point lead early in the second half, Ripon answered with an 18-5 run to cut the lead to one on a Seth Kostroski 3-pointer mid-way through the second half, in his first game back from injury. The game would remain tight the rest of the night, with Ripon tying the score at 69 on a pair of clutch free throws from Cal Schultz. That set the stage for Lake Forest's heroics, as Danny Sotos grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback with 2.5 seconds on the clock to give Lake Forest the win.

Schultz led Ripon with a career-high 33 points on 11-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Schultz, who also recorded seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals, is now just 10 points away from becoming the 31st player in program history to score 1,000 career points. Trent Jones added 11 points, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Kyle Rutkowski posted eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds (four offensive).

Lake Forest was led by Sotos' 22 points and eight rebounds. Sam Husting added 15 points and nine rebounds, making 5-of-8 shots from 3-point range, while Moran chipped in with 14 points off the bench.

Ripon will look to rebound on Saturday when they'll host Lawrence University at 3 p.m. on what will be their annual Alumni Basketball Day. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.