Jaylen Mahone had 17 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Ripon College men's basketball team to a 65-53 victory over Knox College Saturday afternoon. The Red Hawks closed the season with two straight wins heading into next week's Midwest Conference Tournament.
 
Ripon held Knox to below 40 percent shooting in each half and a sub-30 percent shooting mark from three for the game in the double-digit victory. The Red Hawks also won the turnover battle, forcing 15 turnovers compared to 9 of their own, and scored 18 points off those turnovers.
 
Aside from Mahone's 17 points, Cade Tackmier had 10 points off the bench as the only other Ripon player to reach double-digit scoring. Drew Jorgensen and David DeValk had 9 points each, while Ryan Steffes did a little of everything, scoring 6 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing 5 assists on the day.
 
An early cold stretch had Ripon trailing by 12 points nine minutes into the first half, but Tackmier came in off the bench, hit a three to kick off a 10-2 run and make it a 21-17 game with under 8 minutes to play in the half. The run continued for the Red Hawks and a few minutes later, the game was tied at 23 following a Mahone layup. DeValk broke the tie on the next possession, their first lead since 7-5, and the Red Hawks went to the locker rooms with a 33-29 advantage.
 
The Red Hawks stretched their lead to 6 points early in the second half, but Knox went on an 8-0 run to put Ripon behind by two points with 13 minutes left in the game. The game was tied at both 45 and 47, but Ripon broke the latest tie with an 8-2 run over a four-minute span to take a 6-point lead with under 9 to play. The Red Hawks ran their lead up to 12 points with 1:02 on the clock and would hold on to that for the 65-53 win.
 
Ripon is the #4 seed in the 2023 MWC Men's Basketball Tournament and will travel to host and top-seeded Illinois College for their semifinal game. Ripon and Illinois will play in the first semifinal game on Friday, February 24th at 5:00 p.m.