RIPON, WI – Bo Johnson and Tommy Becker, Ripon College’s version of Batman and Robin, combined for 65 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Red Hawks to a 129-106 victory over Grinnell College.
Ripon College, ranked 11th nationally in the latest D3hoops.com men’s basketball poll, improved to 11-2 on the season and 5-1 in the Midwest Conference. Grinnell College fell to 4-9 overall and 1-5 in conference play.
Grinnell College, with its vaunted attacking offensive style, made the game close through most of the first half. However, the Red Hawks got out to an early 23-15 advantage on several backdoor layups and held a 62-50 advantage at the intermission. The Pioneers came fighting back in the second half as they were able to cut the Ripon advantage to only six at 106-100 before the Red Hawks went on a 23-6 scoring run to provide the final margin.
Johnson, a junior from Wausau, Wis., was red hot from the field Saturday. He scored 34 points, nailing 14 of his 18 shots from the field and pulling down eight rebounds.. Becker, a cat-quick senior guard from Delevan, Wis., had 31 points. Becker hit 12 of 16 shots from the field and all seven of his free throws. David McMullen added 20 points, with four rebounds, eight assists and one steal. Paul Wise came off the bench for 15 points.
As a team, Ripon shot 69 percent (49-71) from the field, 25 percent (1-4) from long range and 78 percent (30-38) from the free-throw line. The Red Hawks had 42 rebounds, 34 assists, four blocked shots and 14 steals.
Mike Schmidt led Grinnell College with 21 points. Matt Brown added 18 points, while Trek Langenhan had 15 and Paul Nordlund chipped in with 12. As a team, the Pioneers shot 39 percent (34-86) from the field, 30 percent (20-65) from 3-point land and 81 percent (18-22) from the charity stripe.
The Red Hawks get back in action this weekend when they visit Lake Forest College on Friday, Jan. 21, and Knox College on Saturday, Jan. 22. Friday’s game is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. with the Saturday game scheduled for 4 p.m.
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