RIPON, Wis. - After a 14-day layoff since their last game, the Ripon men's basketball team didn't show much rust Saturday afternoon, defeating Knox College 83-64. The Red Hawks set the tone in the first half, shooting 65 percent (17-26) in the period, en route to a 55 percent (29-53) shooting performance in the game. Ripon led for all but two minutes, helping them capture their 10th consecutive win over the Prairie Fire.

Ripon wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, making their first five shots, four of which came from Ty Sabin, who scored nine points in the first four minutes. After Ripon went up by 10 points just minutes later, Knox rallied with seven consecutive points to cut the lead to three. The Red Hawks would again take a double digit lead late in the half on a pair of Sabin free throws, but an Orlando Brown basket pulled Knox within nine just before halftime.

Knox edged closer at the beginning of the second half, as Caylab Herrera scored a three-point play of the opening possession. That would be as close as they would get the rest of the day though, as a 29-9 run by the Red Hawks opened up their largest lead of 26 to put the game away.

Sabin finished with 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting to lead the Red Hawks, scoring 18 of those points in the first half. Brendan McCoy was second on the team in scoring with 10 points off the bench, while Kyle Loughrin added eight points, six assists, and a game-high four steals. All 17 players on Ripon's roster played at least one minute, while 11 of them cracked the scoring column.

Knox was led by Robert Suntken's 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Brown added 10 points off the bench, while Herrera scored nine. The Prairie Fire converted 43 percent (3-8) of their free throws, while Ripon made 73 percent (19-26) of their shots from the line.

With the win, Ripon remains in second place in the Midwest Conference standings, just one-half game behind St. Norbert College. The Red Hawks will now prepare to face Carroll University on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in Ripon. That game can be seen live on http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.