RIPON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program picked up a Senior Day win in its season finale on Saturday afternoon, defeating Lawrence 56-50 inside Weiske Gymnasium.
 
The win is the 24th consecutive in the series for Ripon (12-13, 9-7 MWC), who improved its win total from a season ago under second-year head coach Kenny Finco.
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Senior guard/forward Luke Meinholz led all scorers with 14 points, three rebounds and three steals in the final game of his career.
• Junior forward Kolby Williams equaled Meinholz with 13 points, adding four rebounds.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier wrapped up his collegiate career with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
• Senior guard Ben Porath chipped in six points off the bench.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Lawrence (6-19, 4-12 MWC) took an early lead, scoring 10 of the first 15 points in the first five minutes. However, Ripon responded with a 7-0 run. The teams went back and forth from there, but a 6-0 spurt by the Vikings put them in front 28-25 with three minutes left in the half. The Red Hawks answered with six in a row of their own, grabbing a slim 31-30 edge at the break.
 
The second half was a defensive struggle as the teams combined for just 45 points. The Red Hawks opened the half with 12 consecutive points as Lawrence was held scoreless for over five and a half minutes. However, the Vikings woke up with 10 consecutive points of their own to pull within 43-40. Ripon padded its advantage to 52-44 after a layup by Meinholz with 7:18 left, but Lawrence cut that deficit in half soon after. The Red Hawks buckled down defensively from there; the Vikings would get no closer than four the rest of the way and were held to two points in the final five and a half minutes as Ripon secured the win.
 
KEY STATS

• The teams had similar shooting nights on Saturday – Ripon was 39.7% from the field (23-of-58) while Lawrence was 38.8% (19-of-49) and both teams made five triples each.
• Ripon had a 40-33 edge in rebounds and had twice as many second-chance points as the Vikings (12 to 6).
• Meinholz ends his time in a Ripon uniform as the career and single-season steals leader at Ripon, and he ranks 27th on the school's all-time scoring list (1,088 points).
• Casey Schoenecker and Nicolas Manzanera each led Lawrence with 12 points apiece.

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