IRVING, TEXAS – The Ripon College men's basketball team lost a 62-54 decision at the University of Dallas Wednesday afternoon.

The loss drops the Red Hawks to 6-6 on the season while the Crusaders stand at 4-6 after the win.

Drew Jorgensen led the visitors with a team-best 15 points on five-of-nine shooting from the floor. All five shots were from downtown.

David DeValk added 11 points and a team-high seven boards. Dominic Galati added eight points and four rebounds while Luke Meinholz chipped in seven markers. Ryan Steffes accounted for five points and five rebounds. He and Meinholz each registered a pair of steals.

Trailing 14-3 midway through the half, Steffes cut the deficit to nine points after a pair of free throws. Owen Theune found DeValk for a thunderous dunk, pulling the visitors within seven, 14-7. Moments later, Jaylen Mahone found Meinholz for a three-ball, slashing the margin ti six, 19-13.

With under four minutes to go in the half, Jorgensen buried a three-point shot to make it 19-16. Another three-ball pulled the visitors within two, 21-19. Jorgensen's second straight three-point bucket gave the Red Hawks a 22-21 margin. Down 23-22, Justin Bartol canned a jumper for a one-point edge at intermission.

Ripon College built a five-point lead at the 15:57 mark when DeValk drained a jumper to make it 33-28. The game went back-and-forth and Theune gave the Red Hawks a 41-39 lead at the 10:37 mark.

After falling behind by seven, Jorgensen knotted the game at 51-51 on a three-point shot with 4:50 to go. However, Ripon College was unable to take the lead the rest of the way as the Crusaders fended off the visitors.  

For the game, the Red Hawks hit 20-of-64 from the floor (31.3 percent), including nine-of-30 from distance (30.0 percent). The squad got to the line eight times and hit five shots (62.5 percent).

The squad accounted for 14 points in the paint. Ripon College tallied 25 points off the bench in the contest.

The Red Hawks return to action Tuesday, Jan. 3 at Grinnell at 3 p.m.