RIPON, Wis. - In what was one of the greatest comebacks in Ripon College men's basketball history, the Red Hawks defeated Grinnell in a barnburner Saturday afternoon by a score of 111-109. Trailing by 13 points with under four minutes remaining, Ripon scored the game's final 15 points to steal the victory. In a game that featured nine ties and 10 lead changes, Ripon also scored 34 fast-break points, while outscoring Grinnell in the paint by a 66-36 margin.

Neither team led by more than six points during the first 13 and a half minutes, until Grinnell went up by seven on a layup by Vinny Curta. Ripon would cut that lead to one on a few occasions before halftime, including with about one minute left in the period on a layup by Trent Jones. Cal Schultz then made one of two free throws in the final minute to send the game into halftime tied at 58. Ripon made their first 11 shots of the game, and 18 of their first 20, en route to shooting 74 percent (25-34) in the half.

Ripon also made their first three shots of the second half to take a lead that would quickly vanish due to a pair of Grinnell 3-pointers. The two teams played evenly for the next several minutes until back-to-back 3-pointers gave Grinnell a seven-point lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Pioneers would take the first double-digit lead of the contest minutes later on a layup by Jackson Qualley. Ripon then scored the next seven points to stay in the game, highlighted by one of Drew Jorgensen's five 3-pointers four of which came after halftime. Grinnell then went on a 13-3 run to take a commanding 14-point lead with five and a half minutes to play.

Grinnell still led by 13 with just under four minutes remaining, hitting a free throw to put them up 109-96. That would be the last point they scored. The Pioneers went 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-1 from the free throw line in those final four minutes, while committing four of the team's 12 total turnovers during that time frame. Ripon took full advantage, cutting the lead to three on a layup by Kyle Rutkowski with just over one minute remaining. After a Cal Schultz layup cut the lead to one, Grinnell turned the ball over, which allowed Trent Jones to connect on a driving layup to give Ripon their first lead since the 15-minute mark of the half. Schultz scored nine of Ripon's points in that 15-0 run to end the game.

Jones led all scorers with a career-high 31 points on 14-of-19 shooting, recording his third career double-double with 10 rebounds, and narrowly missing a triple-double with nine assists. Schultz also recorded his third career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 10 assists, while also pulling down six rebounds. Freshmen Tyson Tully and Ryan Steffes each scored career-highs of 18 and 17 points, respectively, combining to shoot 15-of-23 from the field. Fellow freshman Jorgensen added 15 points off the bench, including 12 in the second half. Ripon shot 67 percent (43-64) from the field and 44 percent (8-18) from 3-point range.

Grinnell was led by Curta's 23 points, while Qualley added 22 points and Zack Stice scored 15. Grinnell finished the game shooting 49 percent (39-80) from the field, including 40 percent (18-45) from 3-point range.

With the win, Ripon keeps pace with the rest of the top-half of the conference standings, as the Red Hawks are tied for fourth, now just one-half game behind Grinnell. Ripon will hope to continue their momentum on Tuesday when they'll host Cornell College at 7:30 p.m., which can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.