Tommies survive, beat Pipers 77-71

Rosefelt finished the game with 28 points on 12 of 18 shooting from the floor. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out three assists.

But the Pipers (2-4, 1-2 in the MIAC) had the game tied at 58-58 after a Jon DeRock basket with 4:09 left in the contest. Sweeney answered with a bucket in the lane before hitting a pair of three pointers to give St. Thomas a 66-58 lead. He later added a pair of free throws to complete the spurt.  He finished with 15 points on 3 of 8 shooting and seven assists.

Hamline started the game with eight straight points. First-year forward Tony Thrasher had six points over the first 3:48 of the game.  He finished with a team-high 20 points. He was 8 of 17 from the floor including 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.

DeRock added 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Charley Good netted 10 points for the Pipers.

St. Thomas responded to take a 32-30 lead into the break. The Tommies shot 46 percent in the first half (13-28) while the Pipers were 37 percent from the floor (13-35).

The Pipers shot a sizzling 56 percent in the second half (15-27), but the Tommies made up the different making 16 of 19 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.  They were 21 of 26 for the game. Bryan Schnettler tallied 18 points for the Tommies, making 9 of 10 free throws.

The Pipers will travel to Luther on Wednesday. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.