(Watertown, Wis.) - The Marian College men's basketball team could not overcome an early deficit on Friday (November 19) night, as they lost their season opener by a final score of 74-48 at the hands of Ripon College. The game was the first of the season for both teams, as they are two of the four squads competing in Watertown in the third annual match-up of Lake Michigan and Midwest Conference teams. Beloit College defeated Maranatha 81-70 in the other match-up.
Ripon jumped out to a quick 15-2 lead on the help of 7-for-8 shooting from the floor in the game's first four minutes. The Sabres regrouped, and cut into the deficit on a few occasions, getting to within five points at 30-25 on the scoreboard with 1:28 remaining in the half. But Ripon scored the final five points of the half, including a buzzer-beating three pointer that pushed their cushion back to ten at 35-25 a the half. The second half belonged to the Red Hawks, as they outscored Marian 39-23 after intermission to secure the 74-48 victory, their tenth straight defeat of the Sabres in the all-time series. Marian hurt themselves with 20 turnovers and 30.6% (15-of-49) field goal shooting in the contest. The Sabres were led in scoring by newcomer Casey Wuest, who netted 12 points in his debut, including a perfect 7-of-7 effort from the charity stripe. Wuest was the only Sabre in double-figures, while Ripon had thee, led by Bo Johnson who scored a game-high 19 points. Titus Redmond had a team-high 7 rebounds for Marian.