First half spurt leads Pipers to 80-76 victory

First-year Jon DeRock scored Hamline’s first 13 points of the night and finished the game with 26 points on 10 for 17 shooting.  The Pipers trailed 15-27 midway through the first half, but came back to tie the score at 32-32 with 1:08 remaining in the half to take the lead going into halftime. 

In the second half, the Pipers took a commanding 46-34 lead before allowing the Cardinals to again tie the score with nine minutes left in the game.  Sophomore Joe Smock led the next Piper charge, scoring the next eight points and giving Hamline the lead to finish out the game.

Two other Pipers joined DeRock in double digits for the game.  Junior Kyle Foster scored 12 points as well as grabbed 13 rebounds, nine of which came in the first half.  Smock added 17 points and ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season.  Junior Sam Weiner contributed eight assists to go with his seven points.

The Cardinals were led in scoring by junior Brensley Haywood with 16 points.

Hamline will travel to St. John’s for their next conference matchup on Saturday.  Game time is set for 3:00 pm.