Box Score

GALESBURG, Ill. - Ripon's men's basketball team defeated Knox College 92-85 Saturday afternoon to clinch the third seed in next weekend's Midwest Conference Tournament. The Red Hawks did so behind seven three-pointers, which gives them 168 on the season to break the school record of 167, set during the 1993-94 season. The top free throw shooting team in Division-III, Ripon sealed the game by shooting 95 percent (19-20) from the foul line.

The game was tightly contested during the first several minutes until Ripon (15-8, 12-6 MWC) scored nine consecutive points mid-way through the half. Knox (1-22, 0-18 MWC) battled back to cut that lead to a single point, but the Red Hawks promptly went on another run, outscoring the Prairie Fire 16-3 in a three and a half minute span to take a 14-point advantage.

After leading 47-38 at halftime, Ripon began the second half with a 13-5 run to take their largest lead of 17 with 17 minutes remaining. Knox scratched and crawled their way back into the game, cutting Ripon's lead to two with under four minutes to play. Leading by three with one minute to play, Ripon missed a jumper, which could have given Knox the opportunity to tie, but Justin Leistikow grabbed the offensive rebound and the Red Hawks converted all six of their free throws in the final minute to leave with the victory.

Ty Sabin led Ripon with a career-high 34 points, giving him 441 for the season, which is 46 shy of the school's freshman scoring record. Ty Ketz added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Brendan McCoy posted 10 points off the bench. The Red Hawks turned the ball over just eight times, while forcing 17 Knox miscues.

The Prairie Fire were led by a career-high 26 points by Eric Miller, 21 of which came in the first half. Armand Stricklin and Mike Martin added 20 and 12 points, respectively, off the bench, while David Jones scored 10. Knox shot 50 percent (30-60) from the field and 50 percent (15-30) from 3-point range.

Ripon will now get ready for the semifinals of the MWC Tournament, which will be held Friday in De Pere, Wis. That game will begin at 1:30 p.m. with the winner facing either St. Norbert or Carroll in Saturday's MWC Championship game.