GALLATIN, Tenn. – The Ripon College men's basketball team jumped out to a 24-2 lead and never looked back as the Red Hawks cruised to a 79-63 victory over Bridgewater State University on Sunday afternoon at the Music City Classic in Gallatin, Tennessee.
The Red Hawks went 2-0 at the Music City Classic and improve to 6-5 on the season. The Bears fall to 2-10 as they went 1-1 at the classic.
Junior forward Kyle Rutkowski (Janesville, Wisc.) scored 19 points and added nine rebounds to lead Ripon, while freshman guard Drew Jorgensen (Fond du Lac, Wisc.) added 17 points in 22 minutes off the bench. Junior guard Trent Jones (Dodgeville, Wisc.) and senior guard Cal Schultz (Muskego, Wisc.) each posted double-doubles for the Red Hawks. Jones tallied 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Schultz checked in with 11 points and ten boards.
Junior forward Rayshon Ward (Fayetteville, N.C.) recorded his fourth double-double of the season to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Ward scored a season-high 23 points and pulled down 11 rebounds with five coming off the offensive glass.
BSU freshman guard Admar Jaramillo (Brockton, Mass.) added a career-high 19 points to go along with three rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals in 25 minutes off the bench, while classmate Jose Monteiro Jr. (Brockton, Mass.) contributed a career-best 12 points as well as three boards, two blocked shots and a steal in 16 minutes off the bench.
After falling behind 24-2, the Bears got to within 11 points (24-13) midway through the first half following an 11-0 run highlighted by seven points by Monteiro Jr. including a three-pointer. Ripon answered with an 11-2 run to push the lead back to 20 (35-15) with 4:19 remaining in the stanza. The Red Hawks would get up by as many as 26 points (74-48) in the second half and the Bears would get no closer than 17 points the rest of the way until a late free throw accounted for the final score of 79-63.
Ripon shot 41% (31-75) from the floor and held a 54-37 rebounding advantage including an 18-9 edge on the offensive glass. The Red Hawks finished with a 21-11 edge in second chance points and outscored the Bears in the paint, 46-32.
Bridgewater State shot just 35% (25-71) for the game and finished 7-for-32 (22%) from three-point range. The Bears also made just nine trips (6-for-9) to the free throw line.
In upcoming action, Bridgewater State opens Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) play on Wednesday, January 9th as the Bears travel to MCLA to take on the Trailblazers at 5:30 PM.