LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Ripon's Paul Wise has certainly had an exciting couple of weeks lately. After being named Midwest Conference Performer of the Week on Monday, Wise turned in the most impressive game of his career Friday night at Lake Forest. The Junior guard finished with a career-high 26 points, none of which were more important than the last two, which gave the Red Hawks a 73-72 victory as time expired.

Ripon started the game like gangbusters, scoring the first eight points of the contest. The Foresters roared back however, scoring the next eight points to tie the game just five minutes into it. The two teams then went back-and-forth over the next few minutes, but Ripon began to pull away again, as they took a 10 point lead on two Wise free throws. Lake Forest then ended the half on another mini-run of their own, using a 9-4 run to cut the Ripon lead to five points as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.

The second half continued to be tightly contested with neither team taking a double-digit lead. Tyler Fischer gave Ripon the largest lead of the half of eight points on a layup with 16 minutes left to play. That lead was quickly dwindled down to a single point, before Lake Forest took the lead with under 11 minutes to play on a Brad Wehner layup. The Foresters used that momentum to build a seven-point advantage with six and a half minutes left, but as was the case all night, no lead was safe. The Red Hawks proceded to score the next nine points and take a 68-66 lead with under two minutes to play. After Lake Forest tied the game at 69, Wise took back the lead on a dunk with 28 seconds left. Just when the momentum seemed to shift, Lake Forest took it back on a three-point shot by Brad Wehner with eight seconds remaining, putting the Foresters ahead by one. After timeouts by both sides, Wise capped his career night as he connected on a jump shot with all zeros showing on the clock.

In addition to his 26 points, Wise also recorded four assists and two steals. He finished the game making 10 of his 14 shots and all six of his free throws. Brian Schmitting chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Bo Johnson had nine points and four boards. The Red Hawks shot 68 percent in the wild second half, en route to their fifth conference victory in as many tries.

Lake Forest was led by Wehner's 20 points, which included six three pointers. Laird Walker finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in the losing effort. The Foresters were able to stay in the game thanks to their three-point shooting. They finished the game shooting 43 percent from downtown.

Ripon will now travel to Monmouth College on Saturday to face the Fighting Scots. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be preceded by the women's contest.