RIPON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team battled back in the second half Saturday, but Ripon College held on for a 56-50 Midwest Conference victory at Weiske Gymnasium.
    Lawrence trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half before cutting the lead to three, but Ripon held the Vikings to just two points over the final 5:34.
    Casey Schoenecker and Nicolas Manzanera led Lawrence (6-19, 4-12 MWC) with 12 points apiece. Schoenecker added four rebounds and two steals, and Manzanera had three rebounds and a pair of assists.
    Nolan Koch came off the bench to score eight points for the Vikings, and Caleb Nash picked up seven points.
    Luke Meinholz paced Ripon (12-13, 9-7) with 14 points, and Cade Tackmier had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
    Ripon led 31-30 at the half, but the Red Hawks raced out 43-30 advantage to start the second half. 
    The Vikings battled back with 10 straight points. Koch started the run with a pair of free throws before Manzanera buried a 3-pointer. After a Koch layup, Manzanera made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 43-40 with 12:19 left. 
    Ripon's lead then hovered between four and eight points, and Schoenecker's layup with 5:34 remaining trimmed the margin to 52-48. Tackmier and Schoenecker traded layups to keep the margin at 54-50, but Lawrence missed its next five shots from the floor to finish the contest.