APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team couldn't connect on a buzzer-beater Wednesday in a 63-61 Midwest Conference setback to Ripon College at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Lawrence missed a pair of 3-pointers that would have given the Vikings the lead and then came up just short on a tying attempt in the final seconds.
    Nicholas Gouriotis led Lawrence (4-13, 2-6 MWC) and all scorers with 17 points and added five rebounds. Gouriotis scored 14 consecutive points for the Vikings to open the second half but had to be removed from the game after getting bloodied by contact to his head. Gouriotis was bleeding profusely from the top of his head when he came out of the game. The Lawrence sports medicine staff got the bleeding stopped, and Gouriotis returned to the game later after donning a fresh jersey.
    Landon Key added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Vikings, and Hogan Demovsky had eight points, two rebounds and two assists. Lawrence's Nathan Valentine grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with four assists and two steals but was limited to three points.
     The game was tight throughout and saw 14 lead changes with Lawrence holding the biggest lead of the game at eight points.
    Nolan Koch's layup gave Lawrence a 52-44 lead with 7:46 left in the contest, but Ripon trimmed the lead to 58-56 with 3:23 remaining. Demovsky answered for the Vikings with a 3-pointer from the wing to put the Vikings up 61-56. 
    Ripon countered with a pair of free throws, and the Vikings turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. The Vikings were then whistled for a foul during a scramble on the floor for the ball, and Luke Meinholz converted the two free throws with 1:44 left to cut Lawrence's lead to 61-60.
    After a Lawrence miss, the Vikings were called for another foul during the scramble for the rebound. Ripon's Seth Bunders made the first free throw to tie game and missed the second. Kolby Williams came up with the offensive rebound for Ripon, and Meinholz hit a jumper to give Ripon a 63-61 lead with 38 seconds remaining.
    The Vikings missed a 3-pointer on the next possession, but Valentine pulled down the rebound. After a timeout, Valentine missed a long 3-pointer, but Gouriotis was there for the rebound. Valentine then put up a shot at the buzzer that was off the mark. 
     Lawrence was down 34-30 early in the second half when Gouriotis took over for the Vikings. Gouriotis hit a 3-pointer and then got loose for a pair of layups to cut Ripon's lead to 38-37. After Ripon hit a 3-pointer, Gouriotis followed with a layup and drilled a 3-pointer to give the Vikings a 42-41 lead. Gouriotis followed that with a layup to put the Vikings up 44-41 with 14:23 remaining. 
    Gourotis was then injured and had to be removed from the game. Lawrence was able to push the lead to eight points after that before Ripon rallied.
    Lawrence returns to action Saturday when the Vikings travel to Monmouth College.