RIPON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team routed rival Ripon College 97-75 on Saturday to claim it second straight Midwest Conference championship and the Vikings' fifth title in six seasons.
Lawrence shares the conference championship with Grinnell College, with both teams finishing 13-3 in league play. Lawrence (17-6), winners of seven straight, will play Carroll University in the semifinals of the Midwest Conference Tournament next Friday at Grinnell. Grinnell takes on St. Norbert College in the other semifinal.
Jayce Apelgren poured in a career-high 28 points, and John Dekker had a career-high 27 to pace Lawrence. Dekker finished with a double-double as he pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Apelgren hit 9 of 11 shots from the floor and Dekker was 9 of 12, including 5 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Ryan Kroeger added 16 points and Chris Page had 15 for the Vikings. Doug Kadison had his second straight double-digit assist game as he handed out a game-high 10 helpers.
Scott Gillespie led Ripon (9-13, 7-9) with 23 points and Aris Wurtz added 20.
Lawrence broke the game open early in the second half. The Vikings led by one at the break but opened the second half on a 15-2 run. Dekker scored seven points in that run and Apelgren added five. Dekker capped the outburst with a 3-pointer at the 15:30 mark that gave Lawrence a 57-43 lead.
Lawrence maintained that lead and then made the game a blowout in the final seven minutes. After Gillespie hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 81-64 with 6:57 left, Lawrence went on a 12-1 run.
Apelgren scored seven points and Dekker capped the run with another 3-pointer to give Lawrence a 28-point lead at 93-68 lead with 4:07 left. That was Lawrence's largest lead of the game.