BELTON, Texas – The Ripon College men’s basketball team stormed back from a double-digit halftime lead and the Red Hawks posted an 80-69 victory over Hardin-Simmons University in the opening game of the Cru Crothall Holiday Classic Friday night in Belton. Ripon College improves to 4-3 on the season with the victory. The loss drops the Cowboys to 4-5 on the year.

The Cowboys built a 48-37 halftime lead while shooting 68 per cent from the field and 88 per cent from three-point range in the period. HSU cooled off dramatically in the second half, hitting just 24 per cent from the field and 1-12 from beyond the arc. The Red Hawks trailed 58-45 with 15:44 left in the game before going on an 18-7 run to cut it to 65-63 with 7:47 remaining. Vehantre Brown then hit four straight free throws to give Ripon a 67-65 lead with 6:16 to play. HSU tied the game two more times but never took another lead and the Red Hawks closed the game with a 13-4 run to put the game out of reach.

Brian Schmitting led Ripon with 20 points and 13 rebounds and Paul Wise had 15 points. Bo Johnson also reached double figures for the Red Hawks with 10 points. Trent Martin topped the Cowboys with 21 points, but he scored 17 of those in a first half that saw him hit his first five shots from the field. Mardochee Jean had 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots before fouling out and James Peters added 10 points for HSU.

HSU will close out the tournament with a 1:00 PM tip-off against defending national champion Virginia Wesleyan College tomorrow afternoon. Ripon College will face tournament host the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in a 3:00 PM start to close out the tournament tomorrow afternoon.