GRINNELL, Iowa – For the third consecutive Saturday, the Ripon men's basketball program found itself in a game that came down to the final possession and for the second consecutive Saturday, the opponent came out on top as Grinnell posted a 95-92 victory over the Red Hawks on Saturday afternoon inside Darby Gymnasium.
 
Ripon (5-13, 3-6 MWC) had two three-point attempts to tie the game on its final possession, but both were off the mark and Grinnell (13-4, 7-2 MWC) swept the season series from the Red Hawks for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel tied a career-high in points with 20, previously set two weeks ago against Grinnell, and had 4 rebounds and 3 assists. He made six three-pointers for the second game this season.
• Senior guard Clark Cunningham scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier finished with 17 points, going 8-of-12 from the field. He also contributed 9 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz was the fifth Red Hawk in double figures, scoring 10 points with 7 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon made life difficult for Grinnell in the opening minutes as the Red Hawks took a 4-3 lead over two minutes into the game. However, the Pioneers responded with seven consecutive points to gain the early advantage. Grinnell's advantage ballooned to as many as 14 after a 16-3 run midway through the period. Spielvogel buried a triple to stop the skid and Ripon promptly went on a 7-0 spurt to cut the deficit in half with under nine minutes left in the half. The Red Hawks continued to claw back, holding Grinnell scoreless for nearly three minutes and trimmed the Pioneer lead down to four following a Tackmier layup with 4:12 remaining. Ripon ended the half on a 6-0 run after holding Grinnell scoreless for the final 2:59 and trailed by just two at the break.
 
Ripon started the second half strong, erasing its deficit less than a minute in. Down 45-42, the Red Hawks ripped off 11 consecutive points to lead 53-45, prompting a Grinnell timeout with 16:14 left in the game. The teams went back and forth from there, though Ripon maintained its lead for the next seven and a half minutes until Grinnell tied it up with 8:44 remaining. After Meinholz gave Ripon the advantage once again, a 7-0 Pioneer run put Grinnell in the driver's seat up six. The offense came to life once again for the Red Hawks as a 9-1 run – aided by baskets from Cunningham, Cameron Ford and Spielvogel – put Ripon up 78-75. Unfortunately, Grinnell used their signature up-tempo offense to score the next eight points and reclaim the lead with 4:26 left. Down 84-80, Ripon made its move. The Red Hawks scored on three consecutive possessions to pull ahead 87-84 with two and a half minutes on the clock. With 37 seconds remaining and the teams knotted at 92, Grinnell connected on an old-fashioned three-point play to lead 95-92. On Ripon's final possession, both Dominic Galati and Ryan Davis had unsuccessful attempts from beyond the arc to secure the win for the Pioneers.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 47.9% (35-of-73) from the field, whereas Grinnell was just 32-of-89 (36.0%). It marked the fourth consecutive game Ripon has held an opponent under 37.0% shooting from the floor.
• The Red Hawks had a season-high 57 rebounds and allowed 52 by the Pioneers.
• Ripon outscored Grinnell 52-40 inside the paint.
• There were 7 ties and 11 lead changes in the game.
• Kai Te Huki, Division III's leading scorer, had a game-high 27 points to lead Grinnell.

UP NEXT
Ripon has a week off before entertaining Cornell on Saturday (January 27) at 1 p.m. for its annual Alumni Day.
 
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