The Grinnell College men’s basketball team dropped a 105-96 decision at Ripon College Friday night in Midwest Conference action.
Griffin Lentsch ’13 led Grinnell with 25 points, including seven 3-pointers, while Matt Skelly ’12 had 20 points and Patrick Maher ’14 scored 12. Maher had a double-double, also coming up with 10 assists as well as seven rebounds.
Marques Valdez ’13 and Dominique Bellamy ’13 had three steals apiece for the Pioneers, who fell to 16-2 overall and 12-2 in the MWC.
Taylor Koth scored 48 points for the Red Hawks, who are 13-6 overall and 9-5 in the MWC.
Grinnell led just once in the game, at 5-4 on a 3-pointer by Xander Strek ’12 with 16:14 left in the first half. However, Ripon came back and was ahead 46-41 at the break.
The hosts built their lead as big as 17 in the second half before Grinnell pushed back, coming as close as six points. The last of those times came with :15 left on a 3-pointer by Luke Yeager ’13. However, Ripon withstood the charge and won by nine.
Grinnell plays at St. Norbert College on Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m.
