PLATTEVILLE, Wis. - One year after ranking ninth in Division-III in field goal percentage and fourth in 3-point percentage, the Ripon men's basketball team picked up where they left off, winning Saturday's 2014-15 season opener 94-79 against UW-Stout at the UW-Platteville Tournament. The Red Hawks shot 59 percent (31-53) in the game, including 60 percent (9-15) from 3-point range and 82 percent (23-28) from the free throw line, while also outscoring the Blue Devils in the paint, 40-22.

Ripon (1-0) held the lead for the majority of the contest, with their largest deficit being three points. That came with just under 12 minutes left in the first half and was answered by a Kyle Loughrin 3-pointer to tie the score, which was the beginning of a 16-3 run that gave the Red Hawks a double-digit lead with seven and a half minutes to play before halftime. Ripon led by as many as 15 in the half, before being cut to nine. Nathan Runde gave the Red Hawks an 11-point lead at the break with a layup just before halftime. Forty-one of the team's 51 first half points came from Loughrin, Ty Sabin and Jordan Stiede.

Loughrin set the tone in the second half as well, scoring the first points of the period, which saw Ripon lead by double digits for the majority of the time. Ripon's largest lead came mid-way through the period when Brendan McCoy converted a four-point play.

Loughrin finished with a career-high 32 points, converting 10 of his 11 shots, including making both of his 3-point attempts. Sabin was also very efficient on the night, scoring 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, while also recording five rebounds and four assists. Stiede finished with eight points, while Runde scored seven.

UW-Stout (0-1) shot 44 percent (28-63) from the field. They were led by Brett Ahsenmacher's 18 points, while Jarvis Ragland and John Keefe added 12 and 11 points, respectively, while recording four assists apiece.

The Red Hawks will be in action again on Sunday when they'll play UW-Platteville at 4 p.m. That game will be played in Platteville, Wis. and can be seen live at,http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uwplatt/ with the radio broadcast at,http://theespndoubleteam.com/.