Both teams shot poorly in a first half defensive struggle that ended at 31-31. After scoring the opening two points of the game, Carroll trailed throughout the remainder of the opening 20-minutes before rallying to tie the score on a three-pointer by sophomore Buck Colomy with 37-seconds remaining the half.
The Pioneers used the momentum they gained at the end of the first-half to jump out to a 10-point lead at 43-33 with 16:59 remaining in the game. Carroll extended its lead to 11, the largest of the night, when Hicketheir hit two free-throws with 7:44 to play to give the Pioneers a 59-48 lead. Ripon closed to within three points at 63-60 on a lay-up by Tommy Becker with 3:32 remaining. Two free throws by Drury with 49-seconds to go pushed Carroll’s lead to 10 points at 74-64. A three-pointer by Becker, the games leading scorer with 27 points, followed by two more free-throws by Drury gave Carroll a 76-67 lead with 26-seconds to play. Another three-pointer and a lay-up and free-throw by Becker over the next 11-seconds pulled the Red Hawks to within thee points at 76-73 with nine seconds remaining. A free-throw by Hickethier and two by Drury in the closing seconds sealed the win for Carroll.
“This was a great win for us against a very good Ripon team. We had some guys sick but they toughed it out. When they couldn’t go, we had guys step up that hadn’t played much this season and really made a contribution,” said third-year Carroll head coach David Schultz.
Carroll junior Jason Scheper scored 12 points and pulled down seven rebounds while David McMullen added 20 points for the Red Hawks. Ripon’s leading scorer, Bo Johnson, entered the game averaging 18.7 points but scored just two points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field, including an 0-of-8 performance from three-point land.
The win improves Carroll to 7-3 overall, 2-1 in the Midwest Conference while Ripon falls to 9-2 overall, 3-1 in league play.