Isaac Brooks tossed in 14 points and Jay Betts and Connor Knutson added 12 each but Hamline's men's basketball team fell to a hot shooting Wis-River Falls outfit, 89-58, at Hutton Arena Saturday.
The Falcons have won seven straight games, stand 9-1 overall and are ranked No. 25 in the latest d3hoops.com poll. They showed why by connecting on 13 three-point shots, including a torrid 7-for-11 in the second half.
The Pipers, who are now 5-4, hung tough in the early going. HU rallied from a 19-12 deficit to grab a 20-19 lead on a Brooks layup with seven minutes left in the first half. But the Falcons went on a 19-7 run the rest of the period to take a 38-27 lead at intermission.
HU stayed with the Falcons in the second half for a long time. The margin was still 11 at 61-50 with 6:47 remaining when WRF hit a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to 67-52.
Garret Pearson scored 12 and Matt Keller added 11 for Wis-River Falls. The Falcons held a 40-23 edge on HU. Pearson was the tiop boarder with eight.
Brooks, a sophomore, had his third double digit entry of the season. Knutson tied his season best with his output. Betts had his fifth such outing coming off the bench. Despite being closely guarded whenever he was on the court, Zach Smith, who is second in the conference in points per game, scored 10 points and tied with Betts for the team rebounding lead with four. Smith also had three assists to move into a tie for 10th place all-time in schooll history with 187.
The Piper defense forced WRF into 17 turnovers, ending with a 21-14 advantage in points off such miscues.
Hamline is now off until Monday, January 2, 2017 when they welcome St. Mary's (4-3 overall, 2-2 MIAC) to Hutton Arena for a 7:00 p.m. start. It is the start of a busy week at home for HU, which stands 2-2 in the MIAC. St. Olaf visits on Wednesday, January 4 for a 7:00 p.m. game and Concordia drops in on Saturday, January 7 for a 3:00 p.m. game.