Box Score

Zach Moll had a hot hand on a cold night. And the Hamline men's BB defense was pretty good, too. 

Toss in Austin Johnson's 14 points and Bennett Cooper's 13 salvos and you had the main ingredients in Hamline's 72-50 win over St. John's at Hutton Arena Monday night. 

Moll (pictured with ball) nailed five three-pointers as part of a career high 17 point effort as HU evened its overall record at 3-3 and improved its MIAC standing to 1-2 with the win.

The junior guard also was part of the solid defensive that held the Johnnies, who entered the night leading the MIAC in scoring, to just 36 percent from the field. It was the fewest points Hamline has allowed in a MIAC game in 22 years. 

The last time HU held a MIAC team to this low of a point output was December 11, 1991 in a 51-47 win over Augsburg. It is also Hamline's best defensive effort against the Johnnies in a game since February 2, 1987 when HU won a 71-50 game in St. Paul,

After scuffling early, HU went on a 12-0 run in the final four minutes of the first half to take a 31-24 advantage at intermission.

Hamline kept up the momentum in the second half, pushing the margin to 44-30 in the first five minutes of the half. SJU worked it back to 49-42 with 10:30 left but HU broke free again foir a 23-8 margin the rest of the way,

Although they were outrebounded 34-33, HU held a big edge in steals, 11-6. Ironically, they recorded their largest margin of the season despite their worst shooting game from the field  (a credible 49.1 percent). 

It was a good start to a busy week that sees the Pipers travel to St. Thomas Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game and Concordia on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. start.