College basketball: Ripon slows down high-flying Grinnell.

Defense and a balanced attack enabled Ripon to take down Grinnell in a rather easy 98-82 victory on Wednesday night in Ripon.

The Red Hawks (8-1, 5-0 Midwest Conference), who held the Pioneers (7-3, 4-1) a whopping 45.7 points below their season average, got 16 points apiece from Ty Sabin and Koy Brecklin. Jordan Stiede (14), Liam Lesniak (12) and Elliot Hoerdemann (10) also reached double digits in scoring for Ripon.

UW-La Crosse 82, UW-Whitewater 68: Austin Fritz paced a balanced attack with 17 points for the Eagles (9-3), who held a double-digit lead throughout most of the second half in their surprisingly comfortable victory over the host Warhawks (11-1) in the WIAC opener for both squads.

Ben Meinholz and Ryan Kruser also had 16 points each for La Crosse, which shot 54.7% from the floor for the game.

UW-Stout 82, UW-Platteville 73: Cory Speer was red-hot from outside, hitting 5 of 6 three-point attempts en route to a 21point showing for the Blue Devils (10-2, 1-0 WIAC) in their triumph over the Pioneers (7-5, 0-1) in Menomonie

UW-Oshkosh 73, UW-Stevens Point 68: Charlie Noone had 21 points and Ben Boots chipped in 18 for the Titans (8-4, 1-1 WIAC), who held off the Pointers (6-5, 0-1) after leading by as many as 14 points in the second half.

UW-River Falls 60, UW-Eau Claire 59: Alex Herink, who finished with 23 points, knocked down a game-winning threepointer with 13 seconds remaining to carry the Falcons (11-1) over the visiting Blugolds (10-2) in the WIAC opener for both.

Eau Claire had one last chance but Chris Duff’s three-point attempt was off at the buzzer.

St. Norbert 72, Beloit 51: D.J. Devalk had 16 points and Ben Bobinski chipped in 15 as the Green Knights (8-2, 5-0 Midwest) had little trouble stopping the host Buccaneers (2-8, 0-5)

Wisconsin Lutheran 79, Edgewood 77: Tanner Schieve’s three-pointer with 2 seconds remaining enabled the Vikings (7-4, 5-2 NACC) to leave Madison with a victory over the Eagles (2-9, 2-4).

Schieve finished with 21 points while Chase Nowak led Lutheran with 23 points.

Marian 84, Lakeland 77: Alex Manhardt scored 23 points and yanked down 12 bounds for the Sabres (3-9, 2-5 NACC) in their win at home over the Muskies (3-7, 2-5).

MSOE 65, Concordia 54: The Raiders (4-6, 3-3 NACC) got 17 points from Collin Seubert and 16 from Matthew Kirmse in their win over the Falcons (5-5, 4-4) in Mequon.

Wheaton 78, Carroll 71: The Pioneers (6-6, 1-2 CCIW) fell to the host Thunder (6-6, 2-1) despite getting 21 points from Ben Widdes.

Carthage 82, North Park 76: The Red Men (9-3, 1-1 CCIW) got 18 points and 12 rebounds from Mike Stevenson as they sank the Vikings (9-2, 2-2) in Chicago.