CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Ripon men's basketball program battled back from an early 16-point deficit and held a lead at halftime, but defending American Rivers Conference champion Coe was too much as the Red Hawks fell 79-66 to the Kohawks on Saturday night inside Kohawk Arena.
After Coe (2-0) started the game on a 19-3 run, Ripon (0-2) roared back to take a 37-36 halftime lead before the Kohawks outscored Ripon by 14 in the second stanza.
STANDOUT HAWKS
- Senior guard Clark Cunningham had a team-high 16 points off the bench, hitting a trio of three pointers and going 5 of 9 from the field.
- Senior guard Cade Tackmier netted 12 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist.
- Senior guard Dominic Galati tallied 10 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds.
- Junior guard Luke Meinholz had a team-high 7 rebounds to go along with 10 points and 5 assists.
- Senior guard Connor Spielvogel came off the bench and had 9 points (3-5 from deep), 1 rebound and 1 steal.
- Sophomore forward Kolby Williams contributed a team-high 7 rebounds, 5 points, 2 blocks and an assist.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Coe came out of the gate firing, racing out to a 9-0 lead before Ripon called its first timeout. The lead for the Kohawks grew to 19-3 before Ripon responded with a 5-0 run. The Red Hawks would claw back, but the Coe lead hovered around double digits for most of the first half until an 8-0 run drew Ripon within two at 29-27 with about five minutes remaining. With Ripon down 32-27, three pointers by Williams and Spielvogel gave the Red Hawks their first lead of the day at 33-32. Ripon finished the stanza making four of its last five three pointers and holding Coe scoreless over the final 1:59.
Cunningham was hot coming out of the break, hitting threes on back-to-back possessions as Ripon pulled to within one of Coe at 44-43. After Galati drilled a triple to cut Ripon's deficit to 52-48, Coe went on a 7-0 run over three-plus minutes to open up an 11-point advantage before
Jayden Fitch put Ripon back on the scoreboard. With just under six minutes remaining, Spielvogel knocked down a triple to trim Coe's lead to 66-58, but that would be the closest the Red Hawks got as the Kohawks pulled away for their second consecutive win over a Midwest Conference foe to open the season.
KEY STATS
- Ripon shot well for the second consecutive game, but Coe had a slight edge in field goal percentage (49.2% to 40.0%).
- The Red Hawks knocked down 52.2% percent of their threes (12-23) while holding Coe to 31.3% (5-16).
- The largest lead of the game for Ripon was 1 at halftime, as the Kohawks led 88% of the game.
- Cael Schmitt led Coe with 23 points, while TJ Schnurr chipped in 19 points and 11 rebounds.
UP NEXT
Ripon begins its impressive non-conference home slate on Wednesday (November 15) as the Red Hawks welcome in #18 Carthage to Weiske Gymnasium for a 7 p.m. tip.
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