The Ripon College men's basketball team could not slow down visiting Lake Forest College as the Red Hawks fell, 78-68, in a mid-week Midwest Conference game. Ripon falls to 8-9 on the season and 4-4 in MWC play.
 
Ripon got off to a good start in this game, but the Red Hawks could not fully take advantage of the missed shots and turnovers from Lake Forest as Ripon led just 9-4 in the first four minutes of the game. That would be Ripon's largest lead of the game as Lake Forest closed the gap somewhat quickly and had the game tied at 14 with 9:41 left in the first half. Lake Forest grabbed the lead shortly after, but Ripon fought back to tie the game on several occasions, the last coming at 24-24 with 4:36 on the clock. Lake Forest, however, rattled off the final 9 points of the half, taking a 33-24 lead into the locker rooms.
 
The late-half momentum continued into the second half and Ripon found themselves trailing by 16 just four minutes into the second half. Despite Ripon's best efforts, they couldn't gain ground on the Foresters and their deficit ballooned to as many as 23 points, the last time that happened coming with 4:48 to play. The Red Hawks started getting to the free throw line and turned up the aggression on both ends of the floor, eventually cutting the Lake Forest lead to single digits, 69-60, after a Dominic Galati three-pointer with 2:27 left in the second half. Ripon actually got as close as 8 points, but there was not enough time on the clock for the Red Hawks to complete the comeback as the game ended 78-68 in favor of Lake Forest.
 
Ryan Steffes led Ripon with 13 points and 6 rebounds while also adding 4 steals and 2 blocks in 34 minutes of action. Jaylen Mahone, Owen Theune, and Luke Meinholz each had 9 points, and Dominic Galati and Jack Brady had 8 points apiece. Galati also added a game-high 5 assists and another 3 steals.
 
Ripon will look to bounce back from this defeat on Saturday, January 21st with a home date against Grinnell College. The game is set to tip at 3:00 p.m.