Box Score RIPON, Wis. – The Grinnell College men's basketball team saw a 15-point first-half lead disappear as Ripon College rallied for a 103-93 victory over the Pioneers Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers were up 38-23 at one point in the first half before Ripon cut the gap to 53-47 by intermission. The hosts drew even and then went ahead in the second half as they posted the victory.

Grinnell, 8-3 in the Midwest Conference and 11-4 overall, were paced in scoring by Griffin Lentsch '13 with 17 points. Luke Yeager '15 added 14 points, while Tague Zachary '15 and Aaron Levin '14 had 12 each. Zachary was 4-of-5 from 3-point land.

Marques Valdez '13 grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, Yeager dished out six assists and Patrick Maher '14 had four and Dominique Bellamy '13 recorded a game-high three steals. Evan Johnson '15 and Valdez each had two steals.

Taylor Koth scored 25 points for the Red Hawks, who improved to 6-5 in the MWC and 8-8 in all games.

The game was tight early before the Pioneers gradually inched ahead. They were then boosted by a seven-point run that included 3-pointers by Jesse Ney '13 and Lentsch and a free throw by Valdez to go up 38-23 with 8:42 to go in the first half.

But Ripon roared back, cutting it to two points before Grinnell finished off the half with a 6-2 run. Brian McManamy '13 and Levin each had 3-pointers to account for the spurt as Grinnell went into the locker room up by six.

A 3-pointer early in the second half allowed Grinnell a seven-point lead, which would be its largest cushion the rest of the game. Ripon came back, though, and took the lead at the 9:15 mark.

The Red Hawks built their lead as big as eight before the Pioneers made a final run at the hosts. Maher, Zachary and Levin all had 3-pointers and Joe Rogers '13 added a basket and free throw to spark a 12-4 run that tied the game at 93-all with 4:09 remaining.

However, Ripon answered with an 8-0 spurt to pull away and secure the victory.

Grinnell hosts Monmouth College in a MWC contest Wednesday at Darby Gymnasium, with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. The game is the first of three home contests in a seven-day stretch for the Pioneers.