APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team took Ripon College to the wire Wednesday, but the Red Hawks pulled out a 67-61 Midwest Conference victory at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Lawrence led until a little more than five minutes remained in the second half, and it was a one-possession game until the final 26 seconds. 
    Adnan Sarancic led Lawrence (6-10, 3-4 MWC) with a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Rookie guard Arnav Jain added 10 points for the Vikings, and Johnny Semany and Elliot Jung had nine points apiece. Lawrence's Parker Prahl chipped in with eight points, Nick Hesch grabbed 10 rebounds and Ryne Panzer picked up four steals.
    Jaylen Mahone led Ripon (8-7, 4-2) with 24 points, including 16 in the second half to spark the Red Hawks comeback.
    The Vikings got off to a strong start both offensively and defensively. Lawrence limited Ripon to 25 percent shooting as the Red Hawks went just 8-for-32 from the floor in the first half. 
    Lawrence was holding a five-point edge late in the first half when the Vikings went on an 8-2 run to finish the opening 20 minutes. The Vikings got two baskets from Panzer, sandwiched around a Semany layup, and Jung got a layup to give Lawrence a 31-20 lead at the break.
    Ripon jumped on the Vikings to start the second half and quickly trimmed the lead to 33-28, but Lawrence responded with a 9-0 run. The Vikings got two baskets from Sarancic before Semany hit a 3-pointer, and Matthew Kaznikov hit a layup to give Lawrence a 42-28 lead.
    Ripon, which went 15-for-22 from the floor (68.2 percent) in the second half, chipped away at the lead and finally took the lead on Luke Meinholz's layup at 50-49 with 5:21 left. Jain then buried a 3-pointer, but Dominic Galati countered with a triple for Ripon. 
    The teams went back and forth, and the game was tied 57-57 after Semany's layup with 1:30 left. Mahone then hit a 3-pointer to give Ripon the lead for good at 60-57. The Vikings missed a pair of shots on the ensuing possession, and Ripon went 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final 26 seconds to close out the win.
    Lawrence returns to action on Saturday when the Vikings travel to Cornell College.