RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program snapped a four-game losing streak in a big way on Saturday afternoon, leading Illinois College for all but 90 seconds en route to a 74-62 home victory over the Blueboys inside Weiske Gymnasium.
Seth Bunders scored a career-high 13 points,
Michael Asman chipped in 13,
Luke Meinholz and
Cade Tackmier combined for 35 and Ripon (5-9, 2-3 MWC) beat Illinois College (10-5, 3-3 MWC) at home for the first time since February 25, 2022.
STANDOUT HAWKS
- Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz scored a game-high 21 points, adding five rebounds, four assists and two steals. He is now six steals away from becoming the school's career steals leader.
- Senior guard Cade Tackmier added 14 points and five rebounds.
- Sophomore guard Seth Bunders contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds (both career-highs) for his first double-double as a Red Hawk. He also had two assists playing a career-high 33 minutes.
- Freshman forward Michael Asman tallied 13 points and five rebounds.
- Senior forward Cameron Ford scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds in his return to the starting lineup.
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon could not have asked for a better start – after IC opened the scoring with a dunk, the Red Hawks ripped off a 13-0 run to grab the early double-digit lead. A Bunders triple with 12:47 left in the half put Ripon in front 20-8 for its biggest lead thus far, and the lead grew to as much as 17 (34-17) following a
CJ Brown jumper with 6:21 remaining. The Blueboys followed with five consecutive points to cut their deficit to 12, but IC could get no closer than 11 the rest of the half. Meinholz scored the final five points of the stanza for Ripon and the hosts led 39-26 at intermission.
The teams exchanged points in the opening minutes of half two, though IC made it a single-digit game with 16:20 left on a layup by Buzz Ritzel. Leading by nine, the Red Hawks got four consecutive made free throws to buoy their lead. Down 56-42, the Blueboys made a run – seven consecutive points with under 10 minutes to play tightened the game, but seven was the closest IC would get the rest of the way. Bunders and Asman scored 10 consecutive points for the Red Hawks as Ripon mounted a 68-57 advantage, and four consecutive points for Ripon opened up a double-digit lead with 90 seconds left that quelled any hope of an IC comeback.
KEY STATS
- Ripon shot 47.3% from the field (26-of-55) and made seven three-pointers.
- The Red Hawks made more free throws (15) than IC attempted (13).
- Illinois College shot just 7-of-34 from three-point range (20.6%).
- Buzz Ritzel led the Blueboys with 15 points.
UP NEXT
Ripon ends its homestand on Tuesday, January 14 as the Red Hawks host Lake Forest at 7:30 p.m.
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