GRINNELL, Iowa - Ripon's men's basketball team led by as many as 16 points in the second half of Saturday's game, but escaped with a 104-101 victory at Grinnell. The Red Hawks shot 72 percent (38-53) from the field, while holding the Pioneers to 37 percent (29-79) shooting.

The game was tightly contested throughout the first half, which featured seven ties and seven lead changes. Grinnell (7-6, 3-3 MWC) led by as many as 14 points in that opening period, but Ripon (8-5, 4-2 MWC) answered with a 24-5 run in the final six and a half minutes of the period to take a 54-49 lead into the locker room.

Ripon continued to lead in the second half, taking a 16-point advantage on a jumper by Justin Bartol with just under 13 minutes to play. Grinnell then went on a 41-25 run to tie the score at 99 with 30 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Jackson Qualley. Jaylen Mahone then grabbed the lead back for the Red Hawks on a layup with 20 seconds on the clock. Seth Kostroski then sealed the game with a trio of free throws in the final seconds.

Mahone led Ripon with a career-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting, while Trent Jones added 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting. David DeValk also recorded a career-high with 18 points off the bench, to go along with six rebounds and four blocked shots. Bartol added 14 points and five boards, while making 10-of-11 free throws. Kostroski and Ryan Steffes each scored 11 points.

Grinnell was led by Aiden Gilbert's 28 points off the bench. Hannes Kogelnik added 18 points, while Qualley scored 14.

Ripon will be in action again on Wednesday when they'll travel to Cornell College. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m., and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.