Men's basketball clinches playoff berth despite loss to Bethel

For the first time in 12 seasons, the Pipers (10-14, 9-10 in the MIAC) will play in the conference tournament.  They earned the sixth seed after St. Mary's lost to Carleton in Northfield.

Against the Royals (15-9, 10-9), the Pipers fell behind 49-36 at the half after Bethel shoy 7 of 16 from beyond the arc. They trailed by as many as 21 in the first half, but whittled the lead to 13 before the break.

Hamline cut the lead to 49-43 with a quick 7-0 run. Chris Babcock and Ryan Montgomery each tallied four points in the span.

The Royals, who gained the fifth seed with the win, upped the lead back to 13 points on five straight points by Matt Frederickson.

The Pipers couldn't get over the hump the rest of the way. They narrowed the lead to 92-89 with 15 seconds to play, but the Royals hit 4 of 4 from the line to ice the win.

First-year Tony Thrasher led the way for Hamline with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting. Joe Smock added 19 points. Montgomery scored 16 points. Jon DeRock tallied 12 points.

Frederickson scored a game-high 28 points. Charles Meadowcraft added 21 points.

Both teams shot 48 percent from the floor. The difference came at the line where the Royals were 30 of 34 from the line. Hamline was 22 of 31 at the charity stripe.

The Pipers will close out the regular season Saturday afternoon when they travel to Concordia. Game time is set for 3:15 p.m.