MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - Ripon shot just 37 percent (11-30) in the second half Wednesday night, while Cornell converted 63 percent (20-32) of their second half shots, as the Rams outscored the Red Hawks 49-29 after halftime, en route to an 80-63 victory. Cornell dominated the paint all night, outscoring Ripon 52-34 in the lane.

Ripon (8-6, 4-3 MWC) got off to a good start, scoring the first four points of the game, and getting out to a 17-10 lead eight minutes into the contest. The Red Hawks led for the first 12 minutes and took their largest lead of eight on a layup by Seth Kostroski with two and a half minutes left in the first half. Ripon led 34-31 at halftime.

Trent Jones scored the first basket of the second half to give Ripon a five-point lead, but Cornell (7-7, 2-5 MWC) would score the next 11 points to take a lead that they would never relinquish. Ripon would get as close as three points the rest of the way, but Cornell then used a 27-10 run to take a 20-point lead with seven and a half minutes remaining to put the game away.

Ripon was led by Jones and Owen Theune, who each scored 14 points. Kostroski added 10 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers.

Cooper Kabela led Cornell with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and four rebounds. Jordan Magnani added 18 points, while Hart Gallentine scored 16 off the bench, as he made all seven of his shots from the field.

Ripon will try to rebound on Saturday when they'll host Illinois College. That game will begin at 1 p.m. in Ripon, and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.