The 2022-23 Ripon College men's basketball season came to an end Friday evening as the Red Hawks fell just short of knocking-off top-seeded Illinois College in the first Midwest Conference Tournament semifinal.
 
The game started out as a back-and-forth affair, but midway through the first half, Ripon seized the lead and began to take a bit of control. The Red Hawks broke a 15-15 tie using a 12-3 run, opening-up a 9-point lead with 4 minutes to go in the process. But the Ripon offense slowed down over the final four minutes of the half, allowing Illinois to get right back into the game and put the Red Hawks behind by 2, 31-29, at the half.
 
There was no shortage of scoring in the second half as the two teams combined for 78 points over the final 20 minutes. Ripon came out with a flurry of offense and took a small lead, but Illinois regained the lead shortly after. The Red Hawks fought back to tie the game on a few occasions, briefly breaking-through with a one-point lead with 15 minutes to go, but that, too, was short-lived, as Illinois would not let Ripon grow that lead further.  Illinois retook the lead and grew it to 7 points with under 9 minutes to play. The Red Hawks trimmed their deficit to 2 points at the 7-minute, 6-minute, and 1-minute marks, but Illinois had an answer each time to keep Ripon from tying the game or taking the lead back. Ripon did all they could, but Illinois went 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to end Ripon's season.
 
Ryan Steffes led the Red Hawks with 14 points and tied for the team lead with 3 assists. David DeValk and Luke Meinholz had 12 points, DeValk adding 6 rebounds and Meinholz leading the team with 2 steals in 24 minutes off the bench.
 
Ripon finishes the 2022-23 season 14-12.