APPLETON, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s basketball team kept hitting big shots in the second half Tuesday against Ripon College, but the Red Hawks answered every challenge and went on to an 83-67 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.
Lawrence cut a 20-point Ripon lead down to nine, but Ripon All-American Ty Sabin proved to be too much for the Vikings. Sabin went 11-for-18 from the floor, including 7-for-9 on 3-pointers, on his way to 34 points.
Ben Peterson came off the bench to lead Lawrence with 21 points and five rebounds and went 5-for-10 from beyond the arc. Jeremy Stephani turned in another outstanding all-around game for the Vikings with 20 points, four assists and four rebounds. Freshman Abhishek Venkatesh came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting and handed out three assists.
Lawrence (9-12, 10-7 MWC) got off to a slow start and Ripon (17-5, 14-3) built a 41-25 lead at the half. Sabin started the second half by drilling a 3-pointer, and Ripon pushed its lead to 20 with 17:35 remaining.
Lawrence started chipping away at the lead but trailed 60-44 after Sabin’s layup with 14:02 left. Venkatesh countered with a 3-pointer as Lawrence went on a 9-3 run, capped by a Venkatesh layup, to cut the lead to 63-53 with 11:19 remaining.
Liam Lesniak answered with a layup for Ripon, but Venkatesh hit another 3-pointer to trim the lead to 65-56. Sabin stepped up and buried a 3-pointer, but Peterson answered with a 3-pointer for the Vikings.
Sabin hit another 3-pointer and went on to score 13 consecutive points for Ripon as the Red Hawks pushed the lead to 78-62. Lawrence then went cold from long range and missed their next four 3-pointers. The Vikings didn’t get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
Despite the loss Lawrence remains alive for a Midwest Conference Tournament berth. The Vikings are in a three-way tie for third place, and a win at Lake Forest College on Saturday would put the Vikings in the tournament.