The Pipers powered out to an 8-2 lead in the opening four minutes of the game, with center Carl Hipp (Sr., Little Canada, Minn.) putting six of those points on the board.

With a 17-11 Hamline lead on the scoreboard at the 13-minute mark, the Cardinals began to peck away at the Piper lead. Tom Gores (So., Rochester, Minn.) hit an "and one" at 11:48 to cut the Saint Mary's deficit to three.

An exchange of baskets over the next minute found Saint Mary's within one, 20-19, at 9:49. The Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 9:19, 21-20.

That ignited the Cardinals' first half offense, and they went on to lead by seven at the half, 42-35.

Saint Mary's was led by Will Wright's (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) 14 first-half points. Hipp had 13 in the opening 20 minutes for Hamline. Andy Voigt (So., Cottage Grove, Minn.) added a pair of blocks in the half.

Hamline opened the second half on a 9-2 run and took a 46-44 lead by the 17-minute mark.

The Cardinals tied the game at 16:38, but 90 seconds later a pair of impactful plays by Hipp on each end of the court started a Piper momentum swing that allowed them to take control for good.

At 15:16 Hipp knocked down one of his two blocks of the game that was scooped up by Noah Aguirre (So., Fillmore, Calif.). Just seconds later, Hipp layed it up for a 48-46 lead.

Although Lukas Holland (Sr., La Crosse, Wis.) tied it for the Cardinals one more time, Hipp immediately snagged the lead back with another jumper.

That would be the final lead change in the game as the Pipers went on to dominate, winning by 19, 85-66.

Hipp led with a game-high 23 points and pulled down 16 rebounds. Mike Campbell (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) tallied 16 points and Aguirre added 11. Brandon Rieg (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) had three steals for the Pipers.

Saint Mary's was led by 22 from Wright and 19 from Chris Palmer (So., Faribault, Minn.).

The Pipers are now 7-6, 5-3 MIAC while the Cardinals fall to 8-5, 3-5 MIAC. Hamline remains at home to host St. Thomas on Monday, January 17, at 7:30 p.m.