GRINNELL, Iowa – The Ripon men's basketball program dug itself out of an 11-point first half deficit on Wednesday night, but a Grinnell layup with under three seconds remaining handed the Red Hawks a 99-97 defeat inside Darby Gymnasium.
 
When Ripon (4-9, 1-3 MWC) and Grinnell (11-3, 4-1 MWC) meet it's usually a close affair – the margin of victory in the last three meetings between the schools has been a combined 12 points. Wednesday marked the first time all season that Grinnell has been held under 100 points.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz scored a team-high 24 points on a near-perfect 10-of-11 shooting. He also grabbed six rebounds.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier notched a double-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
• Junior guard CJ Brown added 13 points and three rebounds.
• Senior guard Ben Porath contributed a career-high 10 points and two assists. He was a perfect 2-of-2 from both the three-point line and the free throw line.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Ripon claimed an early 7-5 advantage before Grinnell scored the next 12 points to open a double-digit lead. The hosts led 20-9 following a three-pointer with 14:10 left in the half, but six consecutive points brought Ripon within four at 23-19. The Red Hawks continued to apply pressure, and a 10-3 run put Ripon in front 32-31 with under six minutes remaining. Ripon's largest lead of the stanza was 42-36 after back-to-back triples by Tackmier, and the six-point advantage was equaled moments later on a Meinholz steal and slam. Seth Bunders connected on a triple at the end of the half and Ripon headed into the locker room in front, 49-48.
 
Both sides took turns with the lead in the opening moments of the second half – the biggest advantage on either side in the first five minutes was four. After the Red Hawks held their biggest lead of the night thus far – 69-64 at the 14:42 mark – Grinnell chipped away, regaining the lead for a brief moment until Dominic Galati answered with a triple. Ripon's edge grew to 82-75 following an 8-0 run, but the Pioneers remained within striking distance and pulled in front 91-87 with 3:56 left after an 8-0 run of their own. A Williams layup evened the score at 91, but Ripon was unable to go ahead the rest of the way. After Bunders tied the game at 97 with 14 seconds left, Gabe Garcia converted the game-winning layup for the Pioneers with 2.8 seconds to go. Ripon turned it over on its final possession and Grinnell escaped with the win.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot a scorching, season-high 54.3% from the field (38-of-70) and limited Grinnell to a season-low 35.7% from the floor (30-of-84).
• The Red Hawks held Grinnell to 12-of-55 shooting from deep (21.8%) but were just 36.0% themselves from three-point land (9-of-25).
• Grinnell forced 25 Ripon turnovers, committing just 11.
• Wednesday's game featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes.
• Gabe Garcia led all scorers with 27 points for Grinnell.

UP NEXT
Ripon returns home to face Illinois College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 11.
 
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