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RIPON, Wis. - The Red Hawks looked like they were going to coast to victory Wednesday night in a game that they never trailed, as they went up by as many as 20 points in the second half. Marian however, would cut that lead to two with under one minute to play, but Ripon found a way to win, defeating the Sabres 82-76 in the Red Hawk's 2007-08 season debut.
The game was tight early on with Ripon (1-0) leading by no more than five points for the first 14 and a half minutes, which included two ties. Rich Cloeter gave the Red Hawks a spark off the bench in the first half, scoring seven points in a row on three consecutive possessions, capped off by a three-pointer. With five and a half minutes remaining, Paul Wise gave the Red Hawks their biggest lead up to that point, putting them up by six with a three-point play, which was quickly followed by another Wise free throw and a three-pointer by Chris Kellett, giving Ripon a 10 point advantage. The two teams played evenly the rest of the half and the Red Hawks would take an 11-point lead into the locker room. The Red Hawks shot 45 percent in the first half, while Marian (2-1) struggled at times, shooting 37 percent.
The Red Hawks went on a 19-9 run in the first six and a half minutes of the second half, giving them their largest lead of 20 points on a lay up by Tyler Fischer. After Marian cut that lead in half with 10 and a half to play, Ripon fired right back, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take an 18 point lead on a pair of Scott Gillespie free throws with seven and a half minutes left. Ripon would go cold from there, letting the Sabres back in the game. The Sabres used a 20-6 run over the next six minutes to cut Ripon's lead to four points on a three-pointer by Justin Bestor with just under one minute to play. After a Ripon turnover, Marian cut the lead to two points on a jumper by Derek Arndt. The Red Hawks had a chance to ice the game, but missed a pair of free throws, giving Marian a chance to tie or take the lead. That wouldn't happen, as freshman guard Mike King forced a turnover, giving Ripon another chance to put the game out of reach, which they did with four free throws to end the game.
The future of the Ripon basketball program was on display at times, with a pair of freshmen leading the team in scoring. Scott Gillespie led all scorers with 22, 14 of which came at the charity stripe. Gillespie added six rebounds and four assists. Fellow freshman Martin Esters was second on the team, with 14 points, while also grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Kellett and Cloeter each chipped in with 12 points apiece, while Wise finished with 11. The Red Hawks shot lights out from long-range, making 50 percent (7-14) of their three-point shots, including four from Kellett.
Marian was led by Arndt's team-highs of 15 points and eight rebounds. Bestor added 13 points, while Jerid Holewinski and Kevin Hudak added 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Sabres went down shooting, as they shot 56 percent (14-25) in the second half, including 57 percent (8-14) from three-point range.
Ripon will now go on the road to face UW-LaCrosse on Saturday, as they'll try to avenge last season's 78-62 loss to the Eagles. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m. in LaCrosse, Wis.
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