It was one of the best finishes in the 80 years they have been playing basketball at Hutton Arena. Zach Smith's 15-foot jumper with 1.8 seconds left was the winning points as Hamline's men's basketball team celebrated the 80th anniversary of the opening of their arena with a hard-fought 60-58 win over St. Olaf Wednesday night. 

Jay Betts scored a game high 16 points and Smith added 11 with six assists before an appreciative crowd that included many alums who came back for the anniversary celebration. What they saw was a game that Joe Hutton himself would likely have appreciated -- a tense, defensive minded duel in which Hamline grabbed a 12-point lead at halftime only to see the Oles slowly whittle it down and eventually tie the game.

St. Olaf scored the game's first five points and Hamline responded by getting the next 10. HU kept the pressure on the Oles throughout the first  20 minutes, scoring the last nine points of the half to go to the locker room with a 33-21 lead on the scoreboard and a remarkable 26-11 advantage in rebounds. 

The Oles then showed why they have won two of the last three MIAC postseason tournament crowns on an enemy floor. They rallied persistently, connecting on five three-pointers, eventually tying the game at 58 on a long one by Robert Tobroxen, who led STO with 14 points and 10 rebounds, with 1:21 remaining. HU had the first shot at breaking the deadlock but missed. The Oles took their aim, missed and Betts grabbed the rebound with 29 seconds remaining. Smith, a junior guard from Burnsville, Minn., then walked the ball up the floor, waited out the clock and calmly drained his shot to send the crowd into hysterics. 

The decision was Hamline's first win over their Northfield neighbors since December 2011. It also lifted the Pipers into a second place tie in the conference with a 4-2 mark -- just a game behind first place Bethel. That is HU's best MIAC break from the gate in six seasons. The Pipers are also 7-4 overall. In addition to Betts and Smith's heroics, Bret Lukes and Kalu Abosi added nine points apiece. Abosi also had a team high seven rebounds. 

Hamline gets two days to reboot. The Pipers are at Hutton again Saturday to face Concordia (6-4, 3-2 MIAC). Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.