RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's men's basketball team defeated Knox 78-67 to remain undefeated in conference play early in the season. The Red Hawks shot 52 percent (30-58) from the field, while scoring 40 points in the paint and 20 off turnovers.

Knox (3-5, 1-2 MWC) scored the first five points of the game and led for the first 10 minutes, before Dominic Galati tied the score at 21. Luke Meinholz then gave Ripon (5-3, 3-0 MWC) their first lead of the contest on a layup on Ripon's next possession. After the score was knotted up a few more times, Ripon took control, using a 14-3 run to end the half and take a nine-point lead into intermission.

Jaylen Mahone gave the Red Hawks a double-digit lead on the first basket of the second half, connecting on a 3-pointer on their opening possession. They would take a 20-point advantage on a 3-pointer by Galati with 12 and a half minutes remaining, but Knox battled back to cut that lead to eight with six and a half minutes to play, but that's as close as the Prairie Fire would get.

Ripon's David DeValk led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double, while making all 10 of his shots from the field. Mahone added 15 points and a career-high four assists, while Drew Jorgensen chipped in with nine points on a trio of 3-pointers.

Cade Windham led Knox with 18 points and five rebounds on 7-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Sean Gallery added 17 points and six rebounds, while Raphael Jalnaiz scored 10 points.

Ripon will be in action again on Friday when they'll host UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m. in Weiske Gymnasium. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.