APPLETON, Wisconsin – The Ripon men's basketball program continued its roll into the postseason with its fifth-straight win, a 74-46 victory at Lawrence on Saturday inside Alexander Gymnasium.
 
Ripon (11-14, 9-7 MWC) led 22-21 with just over six minutes until halftime but scored 17 consecutive points from there to break open the game and jump-start its 22nd-straight win over Lawrence (5-20, 3-13 MWC).
 
STANDOUT HAWKS

• Sophomore forward Kolby Williams tied a career-high with 20 points, chipping in 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
• Senior guard Cade Tackmier added 20 points of his own, tacking on a trio of three-pointers, with 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
• Junior guard Luke Meinholz recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting. He also had 3 steals and 2 blocks.
• Senior guard William Ryan scored 8 points to go along with a career-high 8 boards and 3 assists.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
Lawrence pulled ahead early with a 7-0 spurt to lead 9-5, but Tackmier and Williams kept the Red Hawks in it as the duo scored Ripon's first 13 points of the game. Nine consecutive points in the middle stages of the quarter lifted Ripon to a 20-12 advantage as Lawrence was without a basket for nearly four minutes. The Vikings clawed back and came within one until Tackier stemmed the tide with a layup. From there, Ripon opened up the game by rattling off 17 straight to lead 39-21 with 43 seconds left in the half. The Red Hawks forced a turnover on their last defensive possession and led by 16 at the break.
 
Ripon conceded the first eight points of the second half to Lawrence as the Red Hawks endured a scoring drought of over four minutes until Williams stopped the skid – the junior from New Orleans scored the first four points of the frame for Ripon. The Red Hawks evened things out after Lawrence cut into the lead and led 49-36 after a free throw by Tackmier with 11:32 to go. Ripon kept Lawrence at bay from there – each time the Vikings would draw within nine, the Red Hawks had an answer on the offensive end.  From the 7:16 mark until the 4:38 mark of the second half, neither team scored and Ripon held its double-digit advantage. A 12-0 run, starting with a Williams free throw, opened up a 23-point Ripon lead to effectively seal the game. Lawrence never closed the gap to less than 21 from there and Ripon won its third-straight conference road game.
 
KEY STATS

• Ripon shot 43.3% from the floor (29-of-67), limiting Lawrence to 18-of-58 shooting (31.0%) and 27.6% success in the second half.
• The Red Hawks controlled the paint with 42 rebounds, surrendering only 38.
• Ripon nearly tied a season-low with just 8 turnovers, forcing 17 on the Vikings.
• The Red Hawks set a new season-high in blocks (9).
• Casey Schoenecker led Lawrence with 13 points and 15 rebounds.

UP NEXT
Ripon heads to Jacksonville, Illinois for next week's Midwest Conference Tournament. The Red Hawks face host Illinois College on Friday (February 23) at 5 p.m.

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