PLYMOUTH, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program cruised past Lakeland 75-63 on Saturday afternoon inside Woltzen Gymnasium for the Red Hawks' second consecutive win.
 
In the victory, Ripon (2-1) shot 48.1% from the field and made more free throws (20) than Lakeland (0-3) attempted (19).
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz scored a game-high 25 points on 50.0% shooting. He made 15-of-20 attempts from the free-throw line, tied for the fifth-most made free throws in a single game in program history. His 20 attempts are also tied for fifth-most in school history. He added 11 steals, eight rebounds and two assists.
• Junior forward Kolby Williams tallied 11 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier recorded 10 points and four rebounds.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon started the game hot from deep, scoring the first 10 points of the game – and six from beyond the arc. Lakeland shaved its deficit to four at 15-11 following the Muskies' third three-pointer of the game, but Seth Bunders answered with a triple of his own on the next possession. Jarton Davis made a layup with 3:47 left in the half for Ripon's biggest lead of the game to date (29-20), but Lakeland answered with an 8-0 run to make it a one-point game with under two minutes left in the half. Williams gave Ripon a 33-30 lead with under a minute left to go, and the Muskies were held scoreless on their last two possessions as the Red Hawks led by three at the break.
 
Lakeland would not go away, keeping the deficit to one on multiple occasions in the opening moments of the second half. Leading 40-39, Ripon scored six consecutive points to give itself a cushion, and the opposition never got closer than five the rest of the way. Lakeland endured a drought of nearly three minutes without a made field goal as Ripon built up a 12-point advantage (57-45). Ripon's last nine points came at the free throw line – the Red Hawks were held without a field goal for the final 4:50 of the game – but Lakeland only scored six total points in the same timeframe to secure a Ripon win.
 
KEY STATS

• The Red Hawks never trailed in the game.
• Neither team shot particularly well from deep; Ripon was 5-of-14 while Lakeland went 4-of-18.
• Ripon turned the Muskies over 23 times, only committing 13 turnovers itself.
• Peyton Mrotek led Lakeland with 18 points.

UP NEXT
Ripon hosts St. Norbert in the Red Hawks' home opener on Wednesday, November 20. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
 
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