APPLETON, Wis. - Ripon's men's basketball team defeated Lawrence University 82-53 Wednesday night to clinch a spot in the Midwest Conference Tournament for the sixth consecutive season. That marks the longest such streak since making 10 straight from 1991-2000.

Ripon (14-6, 11-4 MWC) trailed for just 17 seconds Wednesday night, building an early lead thanks to shooting 67 percent (18-27) in the first half. The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 51 percent (30-59) from the field and 47 percent (9-19) from 3-point range, while holding Lawrence (11-10, 7-8 MWC) to just 31 percent (18-58) shooting, including 16 percent (4-25) from behind the 3-point line.

With the score tied at six four and a half minutes into the game, Ripon's Isaac Masters and Seth Kostroski connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, which was the beginning of a 14-0 run, which opened the game wide open. Lawrence was able to cut that lead to seven later in the half, but Ripon answered with a 12-3 run, which was culminated by a thunderous dunk by Koy Brecklin to put Ripon up by 16. After a Lawrence basket in the final minute, Kostroski nailed a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to give Ripon a 17-point lead at the break.

Ripon continued to pour it on in the second half, which began with an 11-2 run to put the Red Hawks up by 26 points with 16 minutes remaining. Ripon would lead by at least 24 the rest of the night, with their largest lead coming on a Donnell Finch basket with three and a half minutes to play, putting the Red Hawks up by 35.

Ripon saw all 16 of its players play at least two minutes, with 11 of them scoring at least two points. Cal Schultz led all scorers with 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Trent Jones added 14 points, seven rebounds, and a team-high three assists, while Kostroski scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Tyler Semenas narrowly missed his second consecutive double-double, as he finished with nine points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Lawrence was led by Bryce Denham's 14 points and four rebounds, while Quinn Fisher finished with seven points and two assists.

Ripon is now in a three-way tie for second place in the MWC standings. They will look to improve their seeding on Saturday when they'll host Illinois College at 1 p.m. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/. Saturday will also serve as Ripon's annual Alumni Basketball Day, with the Men's Alumni Game taking place at 9 a.m. in Weiske Gymnasium at Willmore Center. The game against Illinois College is Ripon's annual 'Play For The Cure' game in which all fans in attendance are asked to wear pink, with donations being accepted throughout the day and all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society for cancer research.