Box Score

RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the number five team in Division-III Wednesday night, holding a five-point lead over St. Norbert mid-way through the first half. That woudn't last however, as SNC ended the first half with 11 unanswered points to take a 13-point halftime lead, en route to a 78-62 victory.

Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half, but Ripon (14-8, 11-6 MWC) went cold in the second half, converting just 34 percent (12-35) of their shots. St. Norbert (21-1, 17-0 MWC) was able to make 42 percent (10-24) of their second half shots, while sealing the victory by making 12-of-14 (86 percent) from the free throw line.

Ripon was led by Ty Sabin, who scored a game-high 23 points, shooting 10-of-18 from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Ty Ketz added nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Brad Brooks finished with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and five blocked shots in what was the final home game of his career.

St. Norbert's leading scorer and the top 3-point shooter in Division-III, Kam Cerroni, was held in check, scoring five points on 1-of-6 shooting from downtown, but the rest of the team was able to pick up the slack. Andrew Schwoerer led the Green Knights with 22 points off the bench, while Brandon Gries added 21 points and 10 rebounds. Austin Elliott also chipped in with 15 points and five assists off the bench.

The Red Hawks will try to rebound on Saturday when they'll travel to Knox College for their regular season finale, which can be seen live on http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/ripon.portal. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Galesburg, Ill. and will be a final tune-up before taking part in the Midwest Conference Tournament on February 28.