RIPON, Wis. - For just the fifth time in program history and first since the 1998-99 season, the Ripon College Men's Basketball team has finished the regular season with at least 13 conference victories. The Red Hawks accomplished that feat with a 72-53 victory against Knox College Saturday afternoon in their final game before competing in next weekend's Midwest Conference Tournament.

After falling behind early and trailing for the first nine minutes, Ripon (15-8, 13-5 MWC) got their act together mid-way through the first half, taking their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Nathan Larson to put the Red Hawks ahead 16-13. From there, Ripon would never trail the rest of the day. They used a 22-4 run over a six-minute span to take a 14-point advantage with five minutes remaining in the opening half, before taking a 35-25 lead into intermission.

Ripon continued to pour it on in the second half, leading by double digits for all 20 minutes. Their largest lead of 26 came with just over four minutes when Ty Sabin dunked the ball for the second consecutive home game, bringing the crowd to its feet. The third-ranked 3-point shooting team in Division-III, Ripon finished the game making 7-of-19 (37 percent) from beyond the arc. On the other side, Knox converted just 18 percent (3-17) of their 3-pointers, while making 36 percent (4-11) of their free throws.

On Senior Day, it was senior Ty Ketz who led the Red Hawks in scoring with 14 points, as he shot 4-for-5 from 3-point range. Sabin added 13 points to keep his consecutive games streak of scoring in double figures alive at 71 games, while also becoming the first player in program history to score more than 600 points in two different seasons. Larson and Cal Schultz each finished with eight points.

Knox (2-21, 1-17 MWC) was led by Braden Adams' game-high 17 points, while Grant Billimack and Marko Protic each scored six points on a combined 6-for-6 shooting. The Prairie Fire were out-rebounded by Ripon 37-29, with 11 of the Red Hawks' boards coming on the offensive end.

Ripon will continue their season Friday at 1:30 p.m. against Carroll University in the semi-final round of the MWC Tournament, which will be hosted by St. Norbert in De Pere, Wis. That game can be seen live at http://portal.stretchinternet.com/snc/, with LiveStats available at http://www.snc.edu/athletics/teamfiles/livestats/xlive.htm.