Men's basketball can't complete comeback versus St. John's

The Pipers (10-13, 9-9 in the MIAC) trailed 78-60 with 12:58 remaining in the contest before outscoring the Johnnies (14-9, 12-6) 33-14 over the next 9:52 to take a brief 93-92 lead on a Sam Wiener layup with 3:06 left to play.

Weiner scored eight of his 11 points during the run - including the last five. First-year Jon DeRock, sophomore Joe Smock, and senior Ryan Montgomery each added six points in the span.

The Johnnies answered with four straight points by Scott Schafer to take the lead for good. They hit 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

DeRock led the Pipers with a career-high 28 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field. He led four Pipers in double figures. Charley Good added 17 point. Smock added 14, and Kyle Foster had 13.

The Pipers shot 59 percent for the game (31-53) including 65 percent in the second half (15-23). The Johnnies were an equally hot 54 percent for the game (38-70). The outrebounded the Pipers 32-29 and had a 11-4 edge in offensive rebounds.

Ryan Lieser tallied 26 points for the Johnnies. Craig Schafer added 24 points, and Scott Schafer added 13.

The Pipers will host Bethel Wednesday night at Hutton Arena. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.