APPLETON, Wis. - Junior guard Ty Sabin tied a career-high with 41 points Wednesday night, helping the Red Hawks defeat Lawrence 81-80 in a game that featured 10 ties and 22 lead changes with neither team leading by more than five points. That marks Ripon's eighth consecutive win over Lawrence and keeps head coach Ryan Kane undefeated against the Vikings in his four years at the helm.

The largest lead of the game came just six minutes into the first half when a Sabin jumper gave Ripon (10-6, 8-3 MWC) an 11-6 advantage. Lawrence (5-10, 2-8 MWC) then used a 9-3 run to grab the lead, which would change hands several more times. Ripon shot 54 percent (18-33) in the first half, including 42 percent (5-12) from 3-point range, which helped them take a 42-40 halftime lead.

After shooting 42 percent (14-33) in the first half, Lawrence turned up the heat in the second period, shooting 55 percent (16-29) from the field. Ripon answered with 54 percent (13-24) shooting in the second half, including 6-for-8 from behind the 3-point line. With Lawrence leading by one with just under four minutes to play, Sabin put an exclamation point on his masterpiece, scoring seven of Ripon's final nine points, including three free throws in the final 30 seconds.

Sabin's 41-point night moves him into fifth in Ripon history for career points (1,534) in just his 64th career game. He has scored in double figures in every one of those contests, averaging 24 points per game. Against the Vikings, Sabin made 17-of-25 shots, which is the sixth-most field goals made in a single game in school history. He also converted 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range and was 3-for-5 from the free throw line. Ty Ketz added 11 points, which included a clutch-3-pointer mid-way through the second half. Ketz also converted all four of his free throws to improve his conference-best free throw percentage to .948 (55-for-58). Jordan Stiede also made some clutch 3-pointers, connecting on back-to-back treys on his only shot attempts of the night. Liam Lesniak and Koy Brecklin tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven, while Koy Brecklin recorded a team and career-high with five assists.

Sabin entered tonight's game as the second-highest scorer in the MWC, next to only Lawrence's Jamie Nikitas, who finished with 25 points on 8-of-19 shooting, while adding four rebounds and a game-high eight assists. Troy Miller and Jeremy Stephani each added 13 points, while Mitch Willer scored 11.

The win keeps Ripon in third-place in the MWC standings, just one game out of second. The Red Hawks will try to continue to climb the standings Tuesday when MWC-leading St. Norbert College (13-2, 10-0 MWC) brings their 54-game conference win streak to town. That game will begin at 5:30 p.m. in at Storzer Center in Ripon.