MONMOUTH, Ill. - After a one-year hiatus, Ripon's men's basketball team is back in the Midwest Conference Tournament, qualifying for the four-team event for the seventh time in Head Coach Ryan Kane's eight seasons with a 70-56 victory at Monmouth on Saturday afternoon. The win also extends Ripon's season-long win streak to seven games, while allowing just 59.7 points per game during that streak.

Ripon (16-7, 12-4 MWC) led from start to finish Saturday, scoring the first 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers from Seth Kostroski. Monmouth would never get within six points the rest of the afternoon. The Red Hawks shot 48 percent (12-25) in that first half, while holding Monmouth (14-9, 9-7 MWC) to just 25 percent (6-24) shooting in the period, helping Ripon take a 30-20 lead into halftime.

The Red Hawks continued to hold Monmouth at bay in the second half, scoring the first eight points of the period on a pair of Trent Jones jumpers (including a 3-pointer) and a trio of Kostroski free throws. Monmouth cut the lead to eight with 14 and a half minutes remaining, but Ripon answered with 15 consecutive points to take their largest lead of 23, which put the game away.

Kostroski led Ripon with 17 points, while Jones scored 16, in addition to five rebounds, two assists, and three steals. The Red Hawks forced 20 turnovers in the contest, while only committing 10, scoring 26 points off Monmouth miscues.

The Fighting Scots were led by Trey Swearingen, who did his best to keep Monmouth in the game, scoring a game-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 8-of-13 from 3-point range. D.J. Swift added seven points and five assists off the bench.

Ripon will try to keep things rolling on Tuesday when they'll host Lake Forest College at 5:30 p.m. at Willmore Center. That game can also be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/, with LiveStats available at https://static.riponredhawks.com/custompages/LiveStats/MBBall/xlive.htm.