Box Score

BELOIT, Wis. - In a game which they never trailed, the Ripon men's basketball team defeated Beloit College 76-60 Tuesday night to pick up their first conference victory of the season. The Red Hawks shot more than 50 percent in both halves, finishing with a shooting percentage of 54 percent (27-50) for the game. Ripon also converted 90 percent (18-20) of their free throws, including all six of their foul shots in the second half.

Justin Leistikow drained a 3-pointer on Ripon's first possession and the Red Hawks (3-2, 1-1 MWC) never looked back, building a nine point lead less than six minutes into the contest. Beloit (1-2, 0-1 MWC) would pull to within later in the half, but Ripon used a 14-4 run to take a 13-point lead with under eight minutes left in the period. That lead would dip below double digits once more, but a Kyle Loughrin free throw gave the Red Hawks a 10-point lead at the break.

Both teams traded baskets for much of the second half, with Ripon keeping the Buccaneers at arms length. Leading by 12 with six minutes remaining, the Red Hawks put the final nails in the coffin in the form of Leistikow's second 3-pointer of the game and a dunk by Brad Brooks on consecutive possessions to put an exclamation point on the victory.

Ty Ketz led the Red Hawks with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Leistikow poured in a career-high 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Ty Sabin added 12 points, while seniors Brooks and Jay Fish tied for the team-lead with five rebounds.

Beloit was led by James Lazarcik's 21 points, while Tyler Butke chipped in with 12. The Buccaneers made 50 percent (26-52) of their shots, but converted just 17 percent (2-12) of their 3-point opportunities.

Ripon will try to build on this momentum on Saturday when they'll host Lake Forest College. That game will begin at 3 p.m. at Storzer Center's Wyman Gymnasium and can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal.