MONMOUTH, Illinois – After starting Midwest Conference play 0-4, the Ripon men's basketball program has played itself into contention for the MWC Tournament with two games to go after the Red Hawks defeated Monmouth 83-75 in overtime on Saturday afternoon inside Glennie Gymnasium.
 
After splitting the series with Monmouth (13-10, 7-7 MWC), Ripon (9-14, 7-7 MWC) is tied with the Scots for the fourth and final spot in the MWC Tournament heading into the final week of regular season play.
 
Monmouth forced overtime on a deep three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in regulation, but Ripon wasted little time grabbing the advantage in the free period, never trailing in the final five minutes and picking up the crucial road win.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard Cade Tackmier scored all 18 of his points in the second half and overtime, making 10-of-14 free throws to go along with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz played 42 minutes and scored 15 points, adding 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
• Senior guard Clark Cunningham added 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, making both of his three-point attempts.
• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel netted 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep, his 10th game this season with four-plus made threes.
• Senior forward Cameron Ford pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with 6 points and 2 steals.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
It took Ripon a bit to find the scoreboard, conceding the first four points of the game to the Scots until Dominic Galati hit a triple a little over three minutes in. Trailing 8-6, Ripon rattled off six consecutive points and held a 12-8 lead with 12 and a half minutes left in the stanza. Similar to the first meeting this season, points were hard to come by and stretching leads was even harder as the biggest lead by either squad in the first 14 minutes was four. With Ripon nursing a 17-13 lead, the Red Hawks endured a nearly five-minute drought as Monmouth surged ahead on a 10-0 run to lead 23-17 with five and a half minutes left until half. The Scots' lead grew to as many as 12 in the half after an 8-0 spurt in the latter stages of the frame. Jayden Fitch connected on an and-one with 21 seconds left, but the Scots answered at the buzzer and Ripon was down 11 at the break.
 
Monmouth kept the pressure on in the second half, scoring the first four points to push its lead to 15. Ripon clawed back in the opening minutes of the frame, whittling its deficit down to five (41-36) with 12:36 left in the game following Spielvogel's fourth triple of the game. Tackmier connected on an old-fashioned, three-point play and Ripon trailed by just a possession, 46-43, with under 10 minutes to play in the game. Moments later, Ripon went on a 9-0 run, punctuated by a Cunningham triple, to lead 52-48 with 5:40 remaining. After trailing 55-53, Monmouth pulled ahead with four straight points to lead by a basket with two and a half minutes to go. However, the Red Hawks responded soon after with five consecutive points and led by three, 60-57, with 1:28 on the clock. Leading 62-59, Cunningham forced a turnover by the Scots, Ford split two free throws on the other end and it was a two-possession lead for the Red Hawks. Up 65-62, Tackmier split a pair of free throws with eight seconds to go. This left the door open for the Scots and Monmouth's Kyle Taylor hit a triple on the other end to send the game into overtime.
 
Ripon responded accordingly in its first overtime game of the season, scoring the first four points of the extra period. Up 69-67, Meinholz added a clutch three-point play to boost the Red Hawk lead to five with under two minutes to play. Though Monmouth would come within three on multiple occasions, a dagger three by Galati with 42 seconds left made it a two-possession game and proved to be the difference as Ripon secured its second MWC road win in three days.
 
KEY STATS

• After an 8-of-32 performance from the floor in the first half, Ripon shot 46.2% from the floor in the second half (12-of-26) and 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the field in overtime, while Monmouth only had three made field goals in the final five minutes.
• The Scots shot just 5-of-24 (20.8%) from deep, the lowest percentage from beyond the arc conceded by Ripon this season.
• The Red Hawks forced a season-high 22 turnovers.
• Ripon made the most of its time at the charity stripe, sinking a season-high 23 free throws on 33 attempts.
• Jordan Hill led Monmouth with 21 points.

UP NEXT
Ripon plays its final home game of the season on Wednesday (February 14) at 5:30 p.m. against Lake Forest.
 
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