RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon College Men's Basketball team overcame a 5-point halftime deficit to post a 69-67 victory over visiting UW-Platteville Tuesday night.
 
It was a complete team effort for the Red Hawks to remain unbeaten in the early season as 9-of-10 players that hit the court registered at least 5 points on the evening. Each of those points were needed to overcome a 33-point scoring effort by UW-Platteville's Logan Pearson.
 
The Pioneers jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and led by as many as 18 points, at 35-17, with 7:31 left in the opening half. That lead held firm at 17 points in favor of UW-Platteville with under 5 minutes to play in the first half, but Justin Bartol getting to the free throw line kicked-off a ferocious Ripon run to close the half. The Red Hawks would outscore the Pioneers 13-1 in the final 4-plus minutes to close the gap from 38-21 to 39-34 at the halftime break.
 
In the first five minutes of the second half, UW-Platteville pushed their lead back to double-digits and it looked as if Ripon was up against the ropes. But with plenty of time on the clock, the Red Hawks began to grab hold of the game and swung the momentum in their favor. Ripon made it a single-possession game within 5 minutes and took their first lead of the game on a Jaylen Mahone three-pointer with 6:01 left in the game. The final six minutes saw three ties and a pair of lead changes, but the final tie, at 67 apiece with 28 seconds to play, was broken by a free throw by David DeValk. After a stop on the other end, Luke Meinholz made 1-of-2 free throws with 2 seconds left on the clock to seal the exhilarating Ripon victory.
 
Jaylen Mahone had 13 points to lead Ripon in scoring. Luke Meinholz had a near double-double, posting 12 points and 9 rebounds. David DeValk and Dominic Galati had 9 and 8 points, respectively, while Ryan Steffes, Owen Theune, Cade Tackmier, Jack Brady, and Justin Bartol each contributed on both ends of the floor to aid in the comeback.
 
Ripon wraps-up their season-opening homestand on Saturday, November 19^th against Coe College. The game will tip-off at 3:00 p.m.