Department of Athletics
Ripon College
300 Seward St.
P.O. Box 248
Ripon, Wis. 54971-0248 Dec. 11, 2004
Johnson Scores 30 As Red Hawks Down Augustana
RIPON, Wis., – Bo Johnson scored 30 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds Saturday to help Ripon College knock off Augustana College, 86-76.
The victory improved the Red Hawks to 6-1 on the year while Augustana dropped to 4-3 overall.
Johnson, a senior forward from Wausau, Wis., was red hot from the field, hitting 11 of 17 attempts from the floor. He also had four assists and one steal.
The Red Hawks jumped on top early Saturday and never looked back. Ripon took its first lead at 8-7 on a jumper by Jonathan Murphy. And after Augustana rallied to take its final lead of the game at 11-10 with 14:26 remaining in the opening period, the Red Hawks went on a 12-6 run to lead 22-17 with 8:04 remaining and extended their lead to nine at 37-28 when Murphy hit a trey from the corner with 1:12 to go. Ripon led 39-34 as the two teams left the floor at intermission.
Things didn’t get any better for Augustana in the second half as the Red Hawks continued to shoot well on offense and turned up the pressure on defense. Ripon opened the second half with a 14-7 spurt to lead 53-41 on a free throw by Brian Schmitting with 16:51 to go in the game.
Ripon’s lead increased to as much as 14 when Johnson hit a shot from the lane with 12:24 showing on the clock. Augustana came fighting back and was able to cut the Red Hawk lead to as low as five at 79-74 with 2:49 on the clock. However, that was as close as Augustana would get the rest of the night as the Red Hawks rolled on to the final 10-point margin.
Murphy backed up Johnson with 21 points and seven rebounds for Ripon. Schmitting added 20 points and eight rebounds, while Tommy Becker chipped in with six points and seven assists.
As a team, the Red Hawks shot 51 percent (29-56) from the field, 36 percent (7-19) from long range and 67 percent (21-31) from the free throw line. Ripon had 42 rebounds, 22 assists, three blocked shots and 10 steals.
Augustana put four players in double figures, led by Joe Baumann with 17 points. Drew Wessels added 16 points, while Travis Hoyt had 15 and Jay McAdams-Thornton scored 14. As a team, Augustana shot 41 percent (25-61) from the field, 17 percent (3-17) from behind the arc and 79 percent (23-29) from the charity stripe. Augustana had 30 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocked shots and eight steals.
The Red Hawks will have a week off for finals and will hit the hardwood again on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 21-22, when they participate in the Las Vegas D-III Tournament.
Ripon College, founded in 1851, has been providing a quality, personal liberal arts and sciences education to undergraduates for more than 150 years. Recognized as “A Best 357 College” by The Princeton Review and among 160 of the best schools in the nation by Colleges of Distinction, Ripon offers NCAA Division III athletic competition in 20 sports for men and women. For more information about Ripon College, visit www.ripon.edu.
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