The Auggies pulled out to a 15-8 lead in the first six minutes. A baseline three-pointer from Jordan Schmidt (Northbrook, Ill.), a lay-up off of a rebound from Brown (Sr., Saint Paul, Minn.), and a free throw from Noah Aguirre (Fy., Fillmore, Calif.) cut Augsburg’s lead to one point, 15-14, at 11:20.

Hipp (Jr., Little Canada, Minn.) gave the Pipers their first lead of the game just shy of the halfway mark of the opening half, 18-17. The Pipers took control of the first half after that and led 35-30 heading into the locker room.

Brown paced the Pipers with nine points in the first half while Aguirre had seven points and six rebounds. Augsburg was led by seven points from David Olson (Sr., Lindstrom, Minn.) in the opening 20 minutes.

At 16:14 after halftime, Ben Flavin (So., Lakeville, Minn.) tied the game for the first time in the second half at 42-42. Hipp promptly answered with a lay-up to put Hamline up again, 44-42.

On the Auggies’ next possession, an Aguirre defensive rebound brought the ball back down to the Piper offensive end, where a tip-in gave Hamline a four-point lead at 46-42.

The Auggies tied up the game at 46-46 at 13:40. However, Brown launched a three-pointer from three feet beyond the top of the arc to take a 49-46 lead at 13:19. He was then fouled while making a lay-up, and made the ensuing free throw, for a 52-46 Piper lead.

Hipp expanded the lead to 56-48 on a pair of lay-ups around the 11-minute mark.

Brett Sorenson (So., Lakeville, Minn.) cut the Piper lead to one point, 60-59, with seven minutes to play on a three-pointer near the Augsburg bench. Levi Wenrich (So., Newhall, Calif.) made a basket and a free throw to go back up by four at 63-59.

Augsburg battled back, taking a 66-65 lead with 4:31 on the clock on a three-pointer by Jon Cassens (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.). Olson then put them up by three, 68-65, a minute later.

Down 70-66 at the 2:30 mark, Brown hit another trey, this time from in front of the Piper fan section, to drawn Hamline back to within one, 70-69. With just under two minutes to play, Olson was sent to the foul line, and made both shots for a 72-69 Auggie lead.

With one minute to play, Hipp took a rebound and put it in to once again bring the Pipers to within one point. Augsburg missed a three-pointer on their next possession, and Brown rebounded the ball with 30 seconds on the clock.

The Pipers missed a shot inside the paint, and Augsburg’s Sorenson recovered the rebound and was promptly fouled with just under 10 seconds on the clock. He made both free throws for the 74-71 Augsburg lead with 9.5 seconds to play.

Hamline called timeout to set up a play off an inbound pass under the far basket. A three-point attempt by Brown went off the rim, and Olson was sent to the line one more time for a pair of free throws and the 76-71 win.

Hipp’s double-double consisted of 18 points and 11 rebounds (five offensive). He also had a pair of blocks. Brown led the Piper scoring with 22 points and added seven rebounds (three offensive). Aguirre added ten points and nine boards (two offensive).

Olson had 20 points to lead the Auggies, while Sorenson added 19. Cassens totaled 11 and Flaven added 10. Sorenson also led Augsburg with nine rebounds (three offensive).

Hamline opens conference play at 2-2, 0-1 MIAC with the loss while the Auggies start out at 4-0, 1-0 MIAC. The Pipers stay at home for their fifth straight game to host Macalester on Saturday, December 5, at 3:00 p.m. The game will be the second in a women’s-men’s double-header.