JACKSONVILLE, Illinois – The Ripon men's basketball program saw its 2023-24 campaign come to a close on Friday night as the Red Hawks fell 72-68 at Illinois College inside Sherman Gymnasium in the Midwest Conference Tournament semifinals.
 
In a game where the biggest lead on either side for the final 18 minutes was just six, Ripon (11-15) clawed back from an eight-point deficit to lead 53-48 with 9:13 remaining. However, Illinois College (22-4) – the defending Midwest Conference Tournament champion – was too much in the later stages.
 
Despite starting 2-10 overall and sitting at 4-7 in Midwest Conference play before games on February 3, Ripon rallied to claim the fourth and final spot in the MWC Tournament by two full games. The Red Hawks again had a winning record in conference play, continuing a decade-long such streak, and defeated a top-15 opponent in November (#15 Carthage) playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in all of Division III.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Junior guard Luke Meinholz scored 15 points, adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He scored in double figures in each of the final 11 games of the season.
• Senior guard Dominic Galati tallied a season-high 15 points, making 3-of-4 three-point attempts. He also had 4 boards.
• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams netted 12 points and 5 rebounds on 50.0% shooting from the field and free throw line (4-8 and 3-6, respectively).
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier contributed 11 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Illinois College grabbed an early 20-9 lead nearly six minutes in and kept a steady lead for the remainder of the half, eventually pushing its advantage to as many as 13 (25-12). The Blueboys went on a host of 5-0 runs in the opening frame, but Ripon clawed back and refused to let the lead balloon. At one point, Galati scored seven of 11 points for Ripon in a stretch where the Red Hawks found themselves down just 29-23. After Galati and Connor Spielvogel hit back-to-back triples with under three minutes left until halftime, IC's lead was only 33-29. However, the Blueboys scored the final four points of the stanza and led by eight at intermission.
 
The Red Hawks put pressure on IC in the second half, starting the frame on an 8-3 run after a layup by Clark Cunningham got Ripon to within 40-37. Trailing 46-41, Ripon ripped off nine consecutive points to lead 50-46 with 10:52 remaining, prompting an Illinois College timeout. Continuing a second half of runs, IC countered with six-straight points to turn a five-point deficit into a 54-53 advantage with under seven minutes left. Moments later, Williams made a jumper to put Ripon in front by two, but an 8-0 IC spurt put the hosts up for good with under five minutes left. A jumper by Galati made it a 65-63 IC lead with 1:11 to go, but the Blueboys made a huge triple on the other end to take the wind out of Ripon's sails. The Blueboys sank a pair of free throws with four seconds left to preserve the win and advance to Saturday's MWC Tournament final.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon had a 42.4% to 38.9% shooting advantage from the floor as both teams shot north of 45.0% in the second half.
• The Blueboys were 11-of-25 from deep (44.0%), while Ripon only made 7-of-19 attempts (36.8%)
• Illinois College was 19-of-24 from the free throw line, good for 79.2%, while Ripon only attempted 17 free tries and made 11.
• Newly minted Midwest Conference Player of the Year, Jake Mazrimas, had a game-high 24 points to lead IC.

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