Solid All-Around Effort Leads Ripon Past Cornell

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RIPON, Wis. - All five Ripon starters scored in double-figures Tuesday night, en route to a 94-69 victory against conference-foe Cornell College. No one was bigger than freshman Ryan Steffes, who recorded a career-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting from 3-point range, which is tied for second in program history for single game 3-pointers. As a team, Ripon made 13 shots from behind the arc, which is tied for fifth in program history.

After Cornell (3-11, 1-6 MWC) scored the first basket of the game, Ripon (9-5, 5-2 MWC) showed a sign of things to come, as Steffes gave the Red Hawks their first lead of the game with his first of nine 3-pointers on the night. Cornell would then take a 6-5 lead, before Ripon scored the next 16 points to take command of the game. Owen Theune made a layup just before halftime to give the Red Hawks a 44-33 lead at the break, and they would lead by double digits for the remainder of the night.

Ripon's largest lead of the contest came on a Ryan Mahoney 3-pointer in the final minutes, putting them up by 31 points. In addition to their 3-point prowess, the Red Hawks shot 48 percent (35-73) from the field, and missed just one free throw, converting 92 percent (11-12) of their foul shots. Ripon also held the rebounding edge by a 44-28 margin, with 14 of their 44 rebounds coming on the offensive end, which led to 24 second-chance points.

Trent Jones was second on the team in scoring with 17 points, to go along with six rebounds, five assists, and two blocked shots. Kyle Rutkowski added 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while also pulling down seven rebounds (four offensive). Cal Schultz finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while Tyson Tully registered 10 points and five boards.

Cornell was led by Jordan Magnani's 17 points, seven rebounds, and two steals. Cooper Kabela finished with 16 points nad five rebounds for the Rams, while Michael Drew scored 11 points.

The Red Hawks have now won a season-high five games in a row, which is the longest current winning streak in the MWC. They will look for their sixth consecutive 'W' on Saturday when they'll travel to Illinois College. That game will begin at 3 p.m. in Jacksonville, Ill., and can be seen live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ripon/.