RIPON, Wis. - Despite outscoring #24 St. Norbert by 10 points in the second half, Ripon still fell to the Green Knights by a score of 80-68.

The loss was due in large part to a first half that saw the Red Hawks (3-2, 1-1 MWC) shoot 31 percent (9-29) from the field, which included missing their final seven field goals of the half. Meanwhile, St. Norbert (5-0, 3-0 MWC) converted 55 percent (16-29) of their first half shots, including 7-of-11 (64 percent) from 3-point range. That included making their final six shots of the half. Add that up and it equaled a 19-2 run in the final five and a half minutes of the period that took a five-point lead and extended it to 22 at intermission.

The Green Knights picked up where they left off in the second half, scoring the first nine points of the period to take their largest lead of 31 with 17 and a half minutes remaining. That's when Ripon turned their game up a notch, using a 13-1 run to cut the SNC to less than 20 within minutes, keyed by a pair of Isaac Masters 3-pointers and another longball from Justin Leistikow. The Red Hawks managed to cut the deficit to single digits on a Jordan Stiede 3-pointer with just under two minutes left to play. A layup by Kyle Loughrin and a Hayden Hoerdemann free throw whittled SNC's lead to six with just over one minute remaining, but that would be as close as Ripon would get. St. Norbert converted their final seven free throws to stave off the comeback.

Ripon was led by Ty Sabin's 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 3-of-8 from long range. Loughrin added 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting, while Masters and Hoerdemann each finished with career-highs of eight and six points, respectively.

Andrew Schwoerer led St. Norbert with his third double-double of the young season, scoring 18 points and pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds. Austin Elliott scored a team-high 23 points, to go along with six rebounds and four assists, while Bryan Dalton chipped in with 11 points and five boards.

The Red Hawks will try to rebound on Saturday when they'll travel to Cornell College. That game will begin at 3 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa and can be seen live at,http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.

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