RIPON, Wis. — Host Ripon College utilized a 10-point surge late in the first half and a 10-2 spurt in the second stanza to defeat the Knox College men's basketball team in a Midwest Conference game on Saturday afternoon at Weiske Gymnasium, 74-63. Senior Sean Gallery led all players with 19 points for Knox (2-7, 0-3 MWC), but the Red Hawks (4-5, 1-1 MWC) countered with four players in double figures, led by star Luke Meinholz's 17 points.

Neither team could gain an advantage in the first 15 minutes of the game with the lead changing hands a dozen times and never growing larger than three either way. But after a dunk by junior Russell Wright and a layup by junior Cole Andrews put the Prairie Fire on top, 23-22 with 5:26 left in the half, Ripon ripped off 10 straight points, capped by a Dominic Galati 3-pointer for a sudden nine-point lead, 32-23. By the intermission, the difference had grown to 11 at 38-27.

Knox chipped away at its deficit, however, beginning with an Andrews trifecta and layup to start the second half. First-year Willie Rogers III got into the scoring act next with three points the hard way and three more from the perimeter, whittling the Red Hawk lead down to three, 41-38. But it wasn't until Gallery rained down his third 3-pointer of the game with just over 10 minutes to play that the Prairie Fire were within one at 50-49.

After Meinholz and Gallery traded a pair of foul shots, Ripon scored on its next three possessions to quickly go back up by seven. A Wright putback with seven minutes remaining closed the gap to four, but the Red Hawks surged with 10 of the next 12 points, capped by another 3-pointer with two minutes left, this time by Cade Tackmier, who finished the game with 13 points. From there, Ripon denied any opportunity for Knox to make a big comeback.

• Rogers III and Andrews joined Gallery in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
• The two teams had similar percentages shooting the ball, but the Prairie Fire suffered from too many turnovers again, coughing the ball up 23 times, leading to 20 Ripon points.
• The Red Hawks have won 26 of the last 27 meetings between the two teams with that one Knox victory coming last season in Galesburg.
• The Prairie Fire have dropped five straight games since a modest two-game winning streak on Nov. 19-23.

Knox has two road games prior to the Christmas holiday, with a trip to Rock Island, Illinois, on the docket to take on Augustana College (5-3), which has lost its last two contests. The game will tip off at the Roy J. Carver Center at 7 p.m. with live video and stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College athletics.