RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program had the last possession and a chance to win it at the buzzer, but the Red Hawks couldn't convert and Monmouth escaped with a 60-59 victory over the Red Hawks on Saturday afternoon inside Weiske Gymnasium.
 
In a game that featured 17 ties and 16 lead changes, Monmouth (10-6, 4-3 MWC) made two free throws with 49 seconds remaining while Ripon (4-12, 2-5 MWC) missed its last two shots. The Red Hawks led 59-58 with 1:22 left after a layup by Kolby Williams, but the Scots buckled down defensively in the last 82 seconds to secure the win.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams scored a game-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also grabbed 3 rebounds.
• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel had 12 points off the bench – including four three-pointers – 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz tallied 10 points, just missing a double-double with 9 rebounds. He also had 3 assists and 2 blocks.
• Senior guard William Ryan also scored 10 points off the bench with 3 boards and 2 steals.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier chipped in 9 points, 2 assists and 2 steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
From the start, the game felt like it had the potential to come down to the last possession. The teams took turns with the lead over the early going as neither team had a lead of greater than four in the first 17 minutes. The turning point of the first half came after Monmouth took a 22-20 lead with 4:04 left. Meinholz, Tackmier and Ryan all hit triples to spur Ripon on a 9-0 run, giving the Red Hawks a seven-point advantage with under two minutes remaining in the half. The Scots scored the last four points of the half and Ripon led by three at intermission.
 
After Meinholz hit another three to give Ripon a 32-27 lead, Monmouth went on a 7-0 run to lead 34-32 with 16:02 left. Ripon kept it close and retook the lead on a fastbreak layup by Ryan with 12:23 remaining. From there, the teams went back and forth once again – neither team held a two-possession lead for the rest of the contest. After a Scots free throw with 7:38 on the clock, Ripon pushed back with five consecutive points to lead 50-48. Moments later, Spielvogel knocked down a triple with 2:10 remaining to give Ripon its biggest lead the rest of the way at 57-55. With a host of fouls to give, Monmouth kept Ripon off rhythm on its final possession. Tackmier's three was short and with the win, the Scots moved into the all-important fourth place in the Midwest Conference standings.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 40.4% from the field (23-of-57), while Monmouth shot 18-of-50 at a 36.0% clip – the second-lowest percentage allowed by the Red Hawks this season.
• The Red Hawks made 10 or more three-pointers for the third time this season, making 10 of 26 (38.5%) while the Scots shot just 4-of-16 (25.0%) from deep.
• Ripon shot just four free throws the entire game, making three, while Monmouth was 20-of-31 (64.5%) from the charity stripe.
• Declan Flynn scored a team-high 12 points for Monmouth.

UP NEXT
Ripon continues play at home against Lawrence on Wednesday (January 17) at 5:30 p.m.
 
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