MONMOUTH, Illinois – The Ripon men's basketball program rallied from a seven-point deficit with under 50 seconds left to force overtime on Saturday afternoon, but ran out of gas in the final five minutes in an 84-71 defeat to Monmouth inside Glennie Gymnasium.
 
For the second consecutive meeting between Ripon (6-10, 3-4 MWC) and Monmouth (11-5, 5-2 MWC), the Scots and Red Hawks went into overtime. After recovering from a 12-point, first half deficit, Ripon found itself down 66-59 with 40 seconds left. From there, Galati hit a three, Seth Bunders made a jumper, Tackmier connected on a layup and Meinholz stripped the ball from the Scots on their final possession to send the game into the extra frame.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard Cade Tackmier scored a team-high 18 points, adding nine rebounds and two assists.
• Senior guard Dominic Galati contributed 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, making four three-pointers. He also had two rebounds and two steals.
• Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz added 11 points, two rebounds, three steals and two assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Galati opened the scoring with a triple on Ripon's first possession, but Monmouth punched back with a 9-0 run to pull in front. The Scots' lead was single digits until a 4-0 spurt gave the hosts a 19-9 advantage midway through the period. Trailing 22-10, Ripon countered with a roar – an 11-2 spurt and seven consecutive points by the Red Hawks brought the visitors within a basket at 24-21. Ripon crept within two on multiple occasions in the ensuing moments, and a fast-paced first half ended with Monmouth in front 34-33 after the Red Hawks scored the final four points of the frame.
 
The teams exchanged baskets at the onset of the second half, but a 6-0 Ripon run put the Red Hawks in front 41-36 with 13:26 left. From there, the hosts scored the next 10 points, taking a five-point lead of their own. The Monmouth advantage grew to nine with 6:13 left on a Declan Flynn layup, and the Scots led 61-51 with 3:13 remaining. Ripon went on a late 7-0 run to make it a one-possession game with under 90 seconds left, though the Scots connected on a layup and went in front 66-59 with 49 seconds remaining. However, Ripon ended the half on a miraculous 7-0 run – aided by multiple Monmouth turnovers – to somehow force overtime.
 
Monmouth took charge early in overtime, scoring the first six points in the opening two minutes until Ripon scored the next four to make it a one-score game. However, Monmouth rattled off the next 11 points to go up 83-70 and the Red Hawks were unable to make it a single-digit game from there.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 40.6% from the field (26-of-64) though Monmouth was slightly better at 28-of-55 (50.9%).
• The Red Hawks made seven three-pointers, while the Scots tallied nine made threes.
• Monmouth made as many free throws (19) as Ripon attempted.
• Ripon had just 11 turnovers, forcing 17 by Monmouth.
• Declan Flynn led all scorers with 27 points for Monmouth.

UP NEXT
Ripon stays on the road next Wednesday (January 22) as the Red Hawks visit Lawrence. Tipoff from Alexander Gymnasium is set for 7:30 p.m.
 
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