After clinching a postseason berth last week, Monmouth dropped two games off the pace in the race for the top spot in the Midwest Conference with a 69-47 loss at league-leading Ripon Saturday afternoon.
 
Cold shooting hampered the postseason-bound Scots who shot just 16-of-53 (30%) from the floor. The Red Hawks took a lead of as much as 14 points in the first quarter and never trailed as Monmouth's offense couldn't gain traction.
 
The Scots battled back in the second quarter, cutting the margin to just three at 26-23 on Shayne Smith's jumper with 5:30 left in the half. Ripon answered with a bucket on their next possession and pushed ahead 32-24 at the half. The Red Hawks continued to steadily build the lead in the second half to clinch at least a share of the MWC regular season title.
 
The loss puts the second-place Scots (12-4 MWC) two games behind Ripon (14-2 MWC) and one ahead of Lake Forest (11-5 MWC) in third with two games to play. Knox and St. Norbert are tied for the fourth and final MWC berth at 9-7.
 
Monmouth hosts Cornell Wednesday night at 5:30 and St. Norbert the following Saturday at 1 p.m. in the regular season finale. The Scots could regain a tie for the league title with a sweep next week coupled with a pair of Ripon losses.