MOUNT VERNON, Iowa - One day after their offense shot 60 percent in a key road victory, Ripon's defense led the way in Saturday's 79-52 win at Cornell College for the Red Hawks' second win in as many days. Ripon held Cornell to just 31 percent (15-49) shooting, including 22 percent (4-18) in the second half, while also limiting them to 22 percent (5-23) from 3-point range.

The game was very tightly contested early on, with six ties in the first 10 minutes and neither team leading by more than three until the nine-minute mark when a Jon Anderson layup gave Cornell (8-7, 3-5 MWC) a 21-17 advantage. Ripon (8-5, 5-3 MWC) then went on a 17-6 run and took a 34-29 lead into halftime.

Ripon picked up where they left off in the second half, which saw them begin the period with a 16-3 run in a five-minute span to take an 18-point lead on a Seth Kostroski 3-pointer with about 15 minutes remaining. The Red Hawks took their largest lead of 28 on an Aidan Nordquist 3-pointer with three and a half minutes to play.

Cal Schultz led Ripon with 21 points and eight rebounds, while Trent Jonesadded 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and three steals. Isaac Masters finished with 12 points and a game-high four assists. Ripon converted 47 percent (9-19) of their 3-point shots.

Cornell was led by Corey Davis, who posted 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Anderson added 12 points and seven rebounds.

With the win, Ripon keeps pace with the rest of the Midwest Conference, as they remain in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. They will be in action again on Wednesday against conference-leading St. Norbert, which is curretnly two games ahead of the Red Hawks. That game will begin at 7 p.m. in De Pere, Wis., and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.