Box Score

 RIPON – The third-ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team was down 11 points in the second half before rallying to defeat Ripon College tonight by a final score of 71-67 at the J.M. Storzer Center.

 The Pointers improve to 8-1 this season, while the Red Hawks drop their fifth straight game and fall to a record of 1-5. Stevens Point has now won 26 straight games against Midwest Conference opponents. It was the first time that Pointers trailed at halftime and came back to win since they rallied to defeat UW-Platteville 69-58 last season.

 Ripon scored the first five points, but the Pointers scored nine of the next 11 points to make the score 9-7 with over 15 minutes left in the first half. Stevens Point took its biggest lead of the half at 26-19 when Scott Hoelzel (Kaukauna/Kaukauna) (So.-Kaukauna) scored a layup with seven minutes remaining in the half. The Red Hawks then went on a 9-0 run to take a 28-26 advantage with 3:18 on the clock. With the score 28-28, Ripon scored the final five points of the half to go up 33-28 at halftime.

 Stevens Point shot just 42 % in the first half, while the Red Hawks shot 46 %. The Red Hawks had a 12-2 advantage on second-chance points.

 Ripon extended its lead to 45-34 with 13 minutes left in the contest. The Pointers proceeded to go on a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the Ripon lead to 45-43. Stevens Point tied the game on three separate occasions, but did not regain the lead until a pair of Matt Moses (Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) (So.-Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) free throws made the score 61-60 with 4:20 remaining.

 Ross Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) (So.-Minocqua/Lakeland) hit a big three-pointer to give the Pointers a 66-60 lead with 1:36 on the clock. With the Pointers up four, Ripon missed a pair of critical free throws and Khalifa El-Amin (Milwaukee/Rufus King) (Jr.-Milwaukee/Rufus King) connected on both of his free throws as the lead was back to six with 45 seconds left. After Ripon cut the lead down to two, Ross Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) clinched the game with 11 seconds left making both of his free throws as the Pointers won by a score of 71-67.

 Stevens Point shot 54 % in the second half and finished at 48 % for the game. The Pointers were 15-for-19 from the free throw line. The Pointer bench scored 19 points in the second half, compared to just three points by Ripon's bench. Ripon shot 48 % in the second half and finished at 47 % for the game.

 Ross Rortvedt (Minocqua/Lakeland) matched a career-high with 17 points. Rortvedt just scored 17 points on Monday at Viterbo. Steve Hicklin (Sussex/Hamilton) (Sr.-Sussex/Hamilton) scored 13 points, while Matt Moses (Fond du Lac/St. Mary Springs) and Louis Hurd (Portage/Portage) (Fr.-Portage) each added 11 points. Moses also had a career-high seven rebounds to lead Stevens Point. Hicklin had a team-high four assists and five steals. Scott Gillespie had a game-high of 31 points for the Red Hawks.

 The Pointers won't play again until next Saturday when they travel to face Augustana (IL). The tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.