SUPERIOR, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program erased a nine-point halftime deficit and led in the final 20 minutes, but undefeated UW-Superior pulled away for a 71-65 win on Saturday night inside Mertz Mortorelli Gymnasium.
 
For the second time this season, four players reached double-figures in points for Ripon (1-3).
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams had a team-high 18 points on an efficient 8 of 14 shooting, He also tabbed 6 rebounds.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz reached double-figures for the fourth time this season, scoring 17 points and adding 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
• Senior guard Clark Cunningham chipped in 11 points and 5 boards.
• Senior forward Cameron Ford tallied a career-high 10 points and 7 rebounds.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
It took both offenses a few minutes to join the party, as Ripon held Superior (5-0) without a bucket for over three minutes to start the game. Down 13-11, Ripon scored six consecutive points over a two and a half minute stretch to lead 17-13. After Williams hit a jumper to put Ripon ahead 19-18, the Yellowjackets ended the first half on a 10-0 run to lead 28-19 at the intermission, holding Ripon scoreless for the final 4:41 of the stanza.
 
Ripon roared out of the gates after halftime, scoring the first seven points to cut its deficit to just two at 28-26. Superior pulled ahead again to grab a 40-33 lead, but the Red Hawks responded once more and kept Superior's lead between one and three points for the foreseeable future. Down 50-47, Meinholz canned a trip to pull Ripon even with 8:25 remaining in the game. However, an 11-0 Yellowjacket run proved fatal as Ripon never got closer than seven the rest of the way until Ford made a bucket at the final horn.
 
KEY STATS

• Each team shot similarly well, as Ripon shot 43.5% from the field compared to Superior's 41.5%.
• Ripon had double the amount of points in the paint as Superior (44-22).
• Superior made 7 of 22 three-pointers (31.8%) while limiting Ripon to 20.0% shooting from beyond the arc (3-15).
• J'Vaun Walker had a game-high 19 points to lead UW-Superior.

UP NEXT
Ripon returns home for a contest against UW-La Crosse on Tuesday (November 21) at 7:30 p.m.
 
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