RIPON, Wis. – A rough shooting night hurt the Grinnell College men's basketball team in a 98-82 loss to Ripon College in a battle of Midwest Conference unbeaten Wednesday night.
 
Grinnell, 4-1 in the MWC and 7-3 overall, shot season-low percentages of 34.2 percent from the field and 32.5 percent from 3-point range.
 
On the positive side, the Pioneer defense limited the nation's leading scorer to more than 16 points under his average. Ty Sabin came into the contest entering 32.4 points a game, but scored just 16 Wednesday.
 
Grinnell's Julian Marx '17 tied for team-high scoring honors with 12 points, moving him into 15th on Grinnell's all-time chart with 1,318 points.
 
Mike Porter '17 also had 12 points, Vinny Curta '19 put in 10 and Nathan Balcom '18 and Sean Cullinane '18 scored nine apiece.
 
Ikaika Phillip '18 tied career-highs with six rebounds and three assists. Porter also had three assists and a pair of steals.
 
The Red Hawks, who are receiving votes for the D3hoops.com national rankings, are now 5-0 in the league and 9-1 overall.
 
The first half was tight the entire way, with Ripon grabbing a 50-45 lead at intermission.
 
Grinnell got as close as four points twice in the second half, the last time when a layup by Marx made it 54-50. But the Red Hawks went on a key eight-point run for a 12-point lead. The Pioneers never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
 
Next Up: Things don't get any easier for the Pioneers as they play St. Norbert College, ranked 12th nationally by D3hoops.com, at 7 p.m. Friday. The contest will be at the Kress Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.