APPLETON, Wis. -- Ryan Kroeger put on a fine shooting display, and the Lawrence University men's basketball team dumped Midwest Conference rival Ripon College 80-64 Saturday at Alexander Gymnasium.
Kroeger, a junior guard, hit 6 of 7 shots from the floor, including 5 of 5 from 3-point range, on his way to a game-high 24 points. Jayce Apelgren came off the bench to add 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman standout Scott Gillespie paced Ripon (5-6, 0-4 MWC) with 14 points but connected on only 4 of 16 shots from the field.
Lawrence (7-1, 3-0) pulled away late in the first half and maintained that margin throughout the second half. Ripon led 22-21 with 7:48 left in the first half, but Apelgren responded by scoring the next five points for the Vikings with a 3-pointer and a layup to put Lawrence ahead 26-22.
Senior guard Dylan Fogel then buried back-to-back 3-pointers for the Vikings and Lawrence had a 32-22 edge with 5:29 remaining. Fogel finished with a career-high six points. Jamie DeMatthew's layup completed the 13-0 run for Lawrence and gave the Vikings a 34-22 advantage.
After Andy Hurley's layup with 3:25 left in the opening half gave the Vikings their largest lead of the first half at 36-23, Ripon trimmed the lead back to eight points twice. Lawrence responded with 3-pointers from Doug Kadison and Kroeger, the final one with just two seconds left, to take a 42-31 lead into the locker room.
Hurley opened the second half with a layup for a 44-31 lead, and Ripon never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Lawrence led by as many as 19 points in the second half. Eighteen players saw action for the Vikings, and 12 cracked the scoring column.
Lawrence won its second straight against the Red Hawks, and the Vikings have beaten Ripon in six of their last seven tries. That ties the best stretch of success Lawrence has had against Ripon in the modern era of the rivalry. Lawrence won 10 of 11 against Ripon from 1909-1916.
The Vikings return to action Tuesday at Beloit College.