GALESBURG, Ill. - Ripon's men's basketball team defeated Knox College 69-56 Saturday afternoon to earn their first outright Midwest Conference regular season championship since 1999, which also secured hosting rights for next weekend's MWC Tournament. After shooting just 27 percent (9-34) in the first half, the Red Hawks turned things around in the second, shooting 63 percent (15-24) from the field, en route to the victory.

Knox (8-15, 4-11 MWC) began the game on fire, scoring the first eight points. Ripon (17-8, 13-3 MWC) would quickly rally, going on a 15-7 run to take a 17-15 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Drew Jorgensen and Dominic Galati. They would later take a seven-point lead on a jumper by Luke Meinholz, but Knox battled all the way back to take a one-point halftime lead after Jordan Rayner hit a jumper in the final minutes.

The lead changed hands three times in the opening minutes of the second half, before Ripon established a commanding lead, taking an 11-point advantage with four and a half minutes remaining on a jumper by Meinholz. Ripon then held on for the victory, thanks in part to making seven of eight 3-pointers in the final minute and a half.

Ripon was led by 20 points and six rebounds off the bench from Jaylen Mahone. Jorgensen added 14 points on four 3-pointers, while Ryan Steffes also recorded 14 points, to go along with four rebounds and three assists.

Knox's Giannis Tsahageas led the way for the Prairie Fire with 15 points and five rebounds, while Rayner scored 11, while pulling down four rebounds.

The Red Hawks will now await their opponent, as they will play their MWC Tournament semifinal game at 6 p.m. on Friday in Weiske Gymnasium inside Willmore Center. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.