The top-ranked St. Thomas Tommies (18-1 overall, 13-1 MIAC) shot 68 percent in the second half, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range, in Saturday's 81-46 home MIAC men's basketball win over the Hamline Pipers (7-12, 4-10).

UST improved to 10-0 at home and extended its conference lead to three games over second-place Augsburg with six games to play in the regular season.

The Toms rallied from an early 24-16 deficit with a 17-4 run, as Conner Nord had six of his 10 first-half points. UST led just 33-30 at halftime but blew open the game with a 29-4 second-half run.

Will DeBerg scored 19 points and Marcus Alipate had 14, as Alipate made 4-of-5 treys after halftime. UST had only seven turnovers and posted a 33-21 rebounding edge.

Noah Aguirre scored 12 points for Hamline.

St. Thomas plays at Carleton on Wednesday and at Augsburg next Saturday as it looks to secure its eighth consecutive 20-win season.

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