VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia – The Ripon men's basketball program earned a hard-fought 55-47 victory over Kean on Saturday at TowneBank Arena in the consolation game of the TowneBank Tipoff Tournament hosted by Virginia Wesleyan.
 
Kean (0-2) led by two at the half after slow offensive showings in the opening 20 minutes, and Ripon (1-1) trailed by eight with under five minutes remaining. Tied at 45 with 1:52 left in the game, the Red Hawks scored 10 of the final 12 points to secure an important out-of-region victory.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz led all scorers with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, He also had nine steals and six rebounds.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier notched nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.
• Sophomore guard Seth Bunders also scored nine points, making a trio of three-pointers.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
It took a bit for the offenses to get going – the first bucket of the game was made over two and a half minutes in, and Ripon was held scoreless until the 15:27 mark when Kolby Williams made a fastbreak layup. The Red Hawks held Kean without a basket for nearly four minutes moments later, taking an early 12-11 lead. Six consecutive points gave the Cougars a 21-15 edge near intermission, but back-to-back baskets by Meinholz trimmed Ripon's deficit to two at the break.
 
An 8-5 spurt at the onset of the second half pushed the Cougar lead to five at 29-24 with 16:22 left in the game. A free throw by Tackmier ended a nearly four-minute Ripon drought, but Kean turned a two-point game into a nine-point lead following seven consecutive points. However, Ripon refused to go away. Trailing 44-36 with 4:47 to go, Dominic Galati made a free throw to spark a 9-0 Red Hawk run, giving Ripon a 45-44 lead. After Kean tied the game with 1:52 left, a Meinholz layup on the ensuing possession gave Ripon the lead for good and the opposition never got closer than two the rest of the way.
 
KEY STATS

• Kean had a slight edge in shooting percentage (33.3% to 32.7%).
• Neither team shot well from beyond the arc – the Cougars were 4-of-17 from deep while Ripon was 5-of-25.
• The Red Hawks had a 28-10 advantage in points off turnovers and an 11-5 edge in second-chance points.
• Justin Morton led Kean with 12 points.

UP NEXT
Ripon completes its season-opening three game road trip next Saturday (November 16) as the Red hawks face Lakeland at 3:15 p.m.
 
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