RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's men's basketball team shot 57 percent (39-69) from the field Saturday afternoon, while three Red Hawks scored 20 or more points to lead the team to a 113-105 victory against Grinnell College. More than half of Ripon's points (60) came in the paint, while the Red Hawks scored 32 fast break points.

The game was a barnburner from the beginning, as neither team led by more than seven points in the first nine minutes. Ripon would score back-to-back baskets to take a nine-point advantage on a Trent Jones layup mid-way through the half, but Grinnell battled back to cut that lead to a single point just two minutes later. The Red Hawks scored the next nine points to take the first double-digit lead of the contest, and they would go into halftime leading 54-49.

After falling behind by seven early in the second half, Grinnell scored seven consecutive points to tie the score at 67 with 14 minutes remaining. Ripon then grabbed the lead back on a three-point play by Koy Brecklin, but Grinnell took their first lead of the half with eight minutes to play. That lead didn't last long, as Ripon scored the next eight points, with the big blow coming on a Seth Kostroski 3-pointer. Kostroski hit another 3-pointer minutes later to give Ripon an 11-point lead. The Red Hawks held onto that lead by making all eight of their free throws in the final minute and a half of the game.

Jones led all players with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting, while also posting seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Tyler Semenas added 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while Isaac Masters scored 20 points, to go along with seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Kostroski and Brecklin also scored in double-digits with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Ripon finished the game shooting 84 percent (31-37) from the free throw line.

Grinnell made 20 3-pointers on the day, shooting 38 percent (20-53) from beyond the arc. Division-III's leading scorer was held five points below his average, as Vinny Curta led the Pioneers with 28 points, to go along with a game-high eight assists. Zack Stice and Sean Cullinane each scored 18 points, while Hannes Kogelnik added 12.

The victory improves Ripon's conference-best win streak to five games, and moves them into a tie with Lake Forest for third place in the Midwest Conference standings, just one game shy of both St. Norbert and Monmouth. The Red Hawks will be in action again on Wednesday when they'll travel to Beloit College. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Beloit, Wis., and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.