RIPON, Wis. - The Ripon men's basketball team shot just 38 percent (18-47) from the field Friday night, but still managed to defeat Illinois College in the semifinals of the 2022 Midwest Conference Tournament behind solid defense and some timely baskets. That advances the Red Hawks to Saturday's MWC Tournament Championship game, where they'll play for an automatic bid to the NCAA Division-III Tournament.

The first half of Friday's game was a defensive battle, with neither team leading by more than six points. Ripon (18-8) scored the first four points of the period, and took a 12-6 lead on a Jaylen Mahone jumper with 14 and a half minutes left in the period. Illinois College (14-11) then used a 14-6 run over the next seven minutes to take their first lead of the contest, but that was short-lived, as Ripon tied the score at 20 on a Luke Meinholz jumper. David De Valk then gave the Red Hawks a 24-22 lead at the half with a pair of free throws in the final minute.

Ripon came out of the locker room on fire, as Dominic Galati sank a pair of 3-pointers in the opening minutes to give Ripon the largest lead of the game of eight points. The Blueboys then went on a 15-7 run to tie the score at 37 mid-way through the half, before taking their largest lead of five on a 3-pointer by Henry Hayer with eight and a half minutes remaining. Ripon then dug deep and shifted to another gear, ending the game on a 21-6 run to earn the 10-point victory.

First Team All-Conference selection Ryan Steffes led all players with 20 points, as he converted 10-of-14 free throws for the Red Hawks. Mahone added 12 points off the bench, while De Valk chipped in with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds (three offensive).

Illinois College was led by Hunter Ottensmeier's 11 points and five rebounds, while Tre Rogers added 10 points and four boards. Illinois College shot 40 percent (20-50) from the field, but were held to just 24 percent (4-17) shooting from 3-point range.

Top-seeded Ripon will now battle number two seeded Cornell College in Saturday's MWC Tournament Championship game at 3 p.m. in Weiske Gymnasium inside Willmore Center. That game can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/, with LiveStats available at https://static.riponredhawks.com/custompages/LiveStats/MBBall/xlive.htm. That game will be followed by Ripon's women's basketball team, playing for the MWC Tournament Championship at 6 p.m. against Monmouth College.