#2 TOMMIES EDGE PAST PIPERS

In a game that thrilled the fans in attendance at Hutton Arena from the tip-off to the final buzzer, the Hamline Pipers were narrowly edged by the undefeated #2-ranked St. Thomas Tommies, 64-59, in MIAC men’s basketball action.

A wild first half ended with the Tommies holding just a three-point advantage at 29-26. Sharp shooting outside the arc from senior Tony Thrasher (Hustisford, Wis.) allowed the Pipers to keep the score close, as he was the highest scoring player on the court in the first half with eight points.

Thrasher also added two steals, while Carl Hipp (So., Little Canada, Minn.) had two key blocks in the paint for the Pipers in the first half.

Joe Scott (Jr., St. Anthony, Minn.) led the Tommie offense in the opening 20 minutes with seven points, while Lonnie Robinson (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had five rebounds.

St. Thomas came out of the locker room and immediately scored four points on a free throw by Al McCoy (Sr., Saint Paul, Minn.) and a Scott three-pointer to go up 31-26. Thrasher responded with a baseline trey to cut the lead back down to four for the Pipers at the 18-minute mark.

That exchange set the tone for the rest of the game, as the intensity continued from the Piper perimeter in the second half. With the Pipers down 43-39 with 11 minutes on the clock, Dan Anderson (Fy., Burnsville, Minn.) hit a rainbow three to cut the lead to two.

St. Thomas promptly followed up with a layup to return to a 45-42 lead, but Levi Wenrich (Fy., Newhall, Calif.) brought Hamline back to within one point with a layup of his own with just under ten minutes to play.

Up by one, 47-46, with 8:30 on the clock, St. Thomas’ Tyler Nicolai (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) made a three-pointer to put the Tommies up 50-46.

St. Thomas held a 3-5 point lead from there, and a break-away dunk by Scott with 1:20 left in the game put them up by seven at 60-53. Thrasher responded with a layup on the next Piper possession, cutting the Tommie lead back to five with 1:10 to play.

Robinson and Nicolai were each sent to the free throw line in the final minute, making a total of three free throws that book-ended a Nick Hutchinson (Sr., Atwater, Minn.) layup. The Pipers regained possession with 25 seconds to play, but managed to get just two more points from Thrasher to cut the lead to 63-59 before one more Tommie free throw landed the final score at 64-59.

The Pipers were led by Thrasher’s game-high 18 points, while Nick Carroll (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) added eight and Wenrich had seven.

St. Thomas was led by 15 points from Scott and 10 from Nicolai.

The Pipers now stand at 3-11, 2-7 MIAC with the conference loss. The Tommies remain unbeaten at 15-0, 10-0 MIAC. Hamline will remain home, hosting Augsburg on Wednesday, January 21, at 7:30 p.m.