MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – Cameron Ford scored the game-winning layup with 1.4 seconds left, the Ripon men's basketball program erased an 11-point halftime deficit and the Red Hawks defeated Cornell 64-62 on Wednesday night inside the Small Athletic and Wellness Center.
 
Ripon (8-14, 6-7 MWC) scored the last four points of the game and held Cornell (7-15, 4-9 MWC) without a field goal for the final 3:03. Cade Tackmier missed a jumper on the Red Hawks' final possession, but Ford's put-back layup – two of his five points in the contest – gave Ripon the win in a game where they led for only 20 seconds.
 
With the win, Ripon remains one game back of the third and fourth spots in the Midwest Conference Tournament with three games remaining.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard Connor Spielvogel had a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from deep, adding 4 rebounds. He has now made five-plus threes in six games this season.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz also scored a team-high 15 points with 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier chipped in 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep. He also collected 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
• Senior guard Dominic Galati added 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2  steals.
• Senior forward Cameron Ford, in addition to the game-winner, had 5 points and 5 rebounds, including a pair of offensive boards.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon struggled to slow down Zach Ingle in the early going as he had the first seven points of the game for Cornell while the Rams built an early 11-3 lead. Ripon missed seven of its first eight shots before Spielvogel ended a five and a half minute scoring drought with a three. Cornell's biggest lead of the half was 10 nearly halfway through the stanza before Spielvogel buried his second triple of the game, marking his 16th game this season with multiple made threes. The Red Hawks slowly chipped away, trimming their deficit to as little as two following a triple by Galati with under seven minutes left in the half to make it 21-19. However, an 8-0 Rams run pushed their advantage back to double digits. William Ryan connected on a jumper with 1:13 remaining, but Cornell scored the last four points of the half and led by 11 after the first 20 minutes.
 
Ripon got things going offensively to start the half, opening the half on a 15-7 spurt over the first seven and a half minutes while trimming its deficit to just three at 41-38. Moments later, the Red Hawks went nearly four minutes without a field goal, but Tackmier buried back-to-back triples and Ripon was down just 46-45. However, Cornell answered with an 8-2 run and pushed its cushion back to seven with under seven minutes left in the game. The teams traded baskets in the final five minutes as the biggest advantage for the Rams was five. Clark Cunningham nailed a three to cut Ripon's deficit to 61-60 with 2:10 to go as Ripon came within one. Tackmier tied the game at 62 on a free throw with 35 seconds left, the Red Hawks got a stop on the other end and Ford's heroics on the ensuing possession gave Ripon the lead. Ingle's shot at the buzzer for Cornell fell short and the Red Hawks escaped with the victory.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 45.3% from the field, and 66.7% in the second half, while holding the Rams to 39.6% from the floor and just 33.3% in the final 20 minutes.
• The Red Hawks made 10+ threes for the fifth time this season, going 10-of-19 (52.6%) from deep. Cornell was only 7-of-19 (36.8%) from beyond the arc.
• Ripon received 24 points from its bench, while Cornell got just one.
• Jayden Meeker had 24 points to lead Cornell, including 17 in the first half.

UP NEXT
Ripon stays on the road to play at Monmouth on Saturday (February 10) at 3 p.m.
 
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