PLATTEVILLE, Wisconsin – Playing its third consecutive game against a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe, the Ripon men's basketball program dropped a hard-fought 71-54 decision on Wednesday night at UW-Platteville inside the Williams Fieldhouse.
 
Despite cutting the large Platteville (5-1) lead to single digits in the second half, Ripon (1-6) was unable to get any closer than eight as Platteville won its first game in the series since 2017.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior guard Luke Meinholz had a team-high 17 points on an efficient 8 of 14 shooting. He also collected 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams tallied 11 points for his second double-digit game as a Red Hawk. He too had 6 rebounds.
• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel scored 9 points off the bench, all on three-pointers. He helped the cause with 2 rebounds.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier netted 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal.
• Senior guard Dominic Galati had 7 points off the bench, adding 3 boards.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Platteville made a layup 30 seconds in and never trailed in the first half. Meinholz tied the game at 13 apiece with 11:59 left in the first, but the Pioneers answered with an 8-0 run to lead 21-13. Leading 25-16, a 9-0 spurt gave UWP its largest lead of the game at 18 near the end of the half. Ripon punched back, scoring the final five points of the frame to trail by 13 with the second half looming.
 
Platteville preserved its double-digit lead in the second half. Meinholz made a pair of layups to trim Ripon's deficit to 39-29, but a 6-0 Pioneer run gave Platteville a 16-point, 45-29 advantage. Down 48-33, the Red Hawks rallied with seven consecutive points to come within double digits. Unfortunately, Logan Pearson connected on a breakaway Platteville dunk with 9:10 left and Ripon never got closer than nine the rest of the night.
 
KEY STATS

• Platteville shot 41.9% from the field (26-62) while holding Ripon to 32.8% shooting from the floor (21-64).
• Both teams had 30 points in the paint, but UWP had a 17-8 edge in points off turnovers.
• Each team had 12 turnovers.
• Three Pioneers scored at least 10 points, led by preseason d3hoops.com All-American Logan Pearson and his 23 points. He added 10 rebounds and 4 assists.

UP NEXT
Ripon returns home to start Midwest Conference play as the Red Hawks host Illinois College on Saturday (December 2) at 1 p.m.
 
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