Monmouth pulled into a tie with Ripon for the fourth and final berth in the Midwest Conference Tournament with a 66-63 win over the Red Hawks on Saturday. The Scots swept Ripon to hold the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Red Hawks should the teams remain tied after next week's final two games.
 
With Will Carius pumping in 35 points and pulling down 12 rebounds for his 12^th double-double this season and Tyler Houston adding 10 points, the Scots battled through 11 lead changes in the first half to take the lead for good on Dominic DeCello's 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the opening 20 minutes. Carius drained a three on the Scots' first possession of the second half as Monmouth increased their margin to 39-31 before the Red Hawks rallied back. After cutting their deficit to two, 49-47, with 11:06 to play, the Red Hawks stayed within striking distance the rest of the way.
 
The Scots kept Ripon at arms' length over the final minutes and upped their lead to five on a Carius layup with 1:06 to play. Monmouth's defense then took over, allowing just one Ripon basket in the final minute.
 
Monmouth hosts Cornell on Wednesday and league-leading St. Norbert Saturday needing two wins to clinch an MWC Tournament berth for the second straight year.