A second half charge led by Andrew Walters bolstered the Beloit College men's basketball team to a comeback win at Ripon College Tuesday evening. The Bucs trailed the Red Hawks by eight at halftime but mounted the comeback sealing the 61-55 victory with free throws late in the game. 

Ripon held the advantage for most of the game including mounting a double figure lead in the second half. With the scoreboard reading 40-32 with 11:43 left, Beloit began narrowing the gap. 

Tristan Shoup hit two free throws to start the run. Less than a minute later, Walters nailed a three-pointer off an assist from Darin Empereur to cut the lead to three. Walters got it done on the other end of the floor blocking a Red Hawk layup and hauling in the rebound in the ensuing possession. 

A brief hiatus in scoring was ended by a Ripon jumper with 8:24 left to make it a five-point game, 42-37 in favor of the Red Hawks. Walters struck again, this time Mason Jones tallied the assist, knocking down another from downtown to cut the lead to two. 

Walters grabbed the rebound on a missed triple for Ripon and Empereur found the other Walters, Mylan Walters, for another strike from downtown to give the Bucs a lead, 43-42 with 7:35 to play. 

A pair of Ripon free throws were negated by a Michael Polakoski jumper. On the defensive end, Shoup registered the block and rebound and Andrew Walters converted with a jumper in the paint to give Beloit a three-point, 47-44 advantage with 5:17 on the clock. 

The teams traded a pair of free throws and then a couple of buckets to have the gap go back-and-forth from three to five over the next two minutes. 

Ripon hit a three to cut the advantage to two, 55-53 with 1:43 remaining when the Bucs took over from the free throw line. Jones, Empereur, Mylan Walters and Polakoski all hit free throws down the stretch to seal the 61-55 win. 

The Bucs shot a blistering 65-percent from the floor in the second half making 11-17 from the floor. They added 3-7 from downtown and 13-19 from the free throw line to complete the comeback.

Andrew Walters led Beloit with 17 points on 7-15 from the floor and 3-6 from beyond the arc. He added a team-high eight rebounds and tallied two assists. Jones hit 4-6 from the field for 12 points and Polakoski was a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe to bolster a 10-point performance. Empereur dished out a team-high four assists and also notched a perfect game at the line going 6-6. 

Up Next: Beloit will host Lawrence University Saturday, January 25. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m.