Ripon's men's basketball team won one of their two games over the weekend, defeating Knox on Friday, 81-65, before falling to Illinois College Saturday by a score of 87-83.

Against Knox (4-6, 0-3 MWC), behind 49 percent (30-61) shooting, including 38 percent (9-24) from 3-point range, the Red Hawks (6-5, 2-2 MWC) led for the final 35 and a half minutes. They held the Prairie Fire to just 32 percent (9-28) shooting in the first half, en route to a 40-26 halftime lead.

The second half saw Ripon shoot 57 percent (16-28) to sustain that lead, which ballooned as big as 19 points in the final period. Knox pulled to within nine with six minutes remaining, but that's as close as it would get the rest of the night.

Trent Jones led Ripon with 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Ryan Steffes was 7-for-11 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range for 20 points, while adding seven boards and three assists. Kyle Rutkowski chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two blocked shots.

Knox was led by Ethan Meeker, who scored a game-high 29 points, to go along with four rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and three steals, while Jordan Rayner poured in 12 points.

The next day, Ripon traveled to Jacksonville, Ill., where they fell to Illinois College in a four-point game that featured seven ties and 17 lead changes. The Red Hawks finished the game shooting 46 percent (28-61), including 46 percent (11-24) from 3-point range, while Knox made 58 percent (33-57) of their shots and 53 percent (9-17) of their 3-pointers.

Ripon scored the first five points of the game, but that would be the largest lead for either team in the first half. After the lead changed hands a few times, Drew Jorgensen pushed it back to a five-point advantage for the Red Hawks with a 3-pointer mid-way through the period. Illinois College then used a 23-13 run to take a five-point lead of their own in the final minutes of the half. Ripon then closed the period on a 12-4 run, punctuated by a Trent Jones 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Ripon's largest lead of the game came with nine minutes to play when a pair of David DeValk free throws gave them a six-point advantage. Illinois College then promptly used a 17-3 run to take an eight-point lead with less than five minutes remaining. Ripon cut that lead to a single point on a pair of Rutkowski free throws in the final minute, but Illinois College was able to seal the game with a trio of free throws in the final 13 seconds.

Jones again led Ripon in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jaylen Mahone scored 13 points off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting. Steffes and Seth Kostroski each scored 11 points, while each making three 3-pointers. Rutkowski led all players with 11 rebounds (six offensive).

Illinois College was led by Riley Mehrens' game-high 19 points. Deandre Enoch added 18 points and six rebounds, while Caleb Frederking scored 10 points off the bench.

Ripon will be in action again Wednesday when they return home to face Lawrence University at 5:30 p.m. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.