RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program held a six-point advantage at the half and led for over 26 minutes on Wednesday night, but Beloit scored the last four points of the game and escaped Ripon with a 60-56 win over the Red Hawks inside Weiske Gymnasium.
 
Luke Meinholz and Cade Tackmier scored in double figures for the 17th and 13th times this season respectively, but Beloit (13-7, 7-5 MWC) scored six of the game's last seven points over the final 2 minutes and 34 seconds to sweep the season series from Ripon (6-14, 4-7 MWC) for the first time since the 2012-13 campaign.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior guard Luke Meinholz had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists – all team bests.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier netted 11 points on 50.0% shooting from deep.
• Senior guard Clark Cunningham scored 8 points on 3-of-6 shooting.
• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel also contributed 8 points, making at least two three-pointers for the sixth consecutive game.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Beloit scored the first five points of the game as it took Ripon nearly four and a half minutes to make a field goal. After Beloit's game-opening run, Ripon scored the next nine to take an early lead. A 12-2 Red Hawks run soon followed as the hosts kept the Bucs off the scoreboard for almost four and a half minutes in the process. Beloit would not go away, staying within striking distance and keeping the deficit under 10 for the final six minutes of the frame. William Ryan connected on a jumper with four seconds left and Ripon led 26-20 at the break.
 
Ripon maintained its advantage in the early portions of the second half, leading by as many as seven with 13:38 left in the game. However, a 10-0 run by Beloit erased the Ripon advantage and gave the Buccaneers a 39-36 lead just two minutes later. It was a seesaw battle from there as the teams took turns exchanging the lead; Beloit's biggest lead of the half was just four (54-50) with 4:11 left. The Red Hawks responded with five consecutive points, however, and led 55-54 after a pair of free throws by Spielvogel with two and a half minutes to go. After Meinholz sank a free throw with 1:19 left to tie it at 56, Beloit scored its last four points of the game at the free throw line, taking the lead for good with 53 seconds remaining. With under 30 seconds to go, Ripon missed three consecutive shots on one possession and Beloit made it a two-possession game at the charity stripe with three seconds to go to seal the deal.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot just 31.3% (20-of-64) from the field, its lowest percentage since shooting 29.9% at Knox on December 9, while Beloit was 20-of-46 for a 43.5% clip.
• Neither team shot particularly well from deep; Ripon was 7-of-24 and Beloit was 3-of-11.
• The Red Hawks tied a season-low with 7 turnovers, forcing 20 on the Bucs – also a season-best for Ripon.
• Beloit made 17 of its 19 free-throw attempts, while Ripon only attempted 15 tries and made 9.
• Ripon turned defense into offense well, scoring 27 points off turnovers – Beloit had just 4.
• Azeez Ganiyu scored a game-high 24 points for Beloit.

UP NEXT
Ripon prepares for its penultimate home game of the season, a 1 p.m. meeting against Knox on Saturday (February 3) for Senior Day.
 
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