Box Score One night after scoring 82 points, the Hamline men's basketball team showed it can play defense, too. The Pipers held Northland without a basket for eight minutes down the stretch and that was enough to forge a 74-63 victory over the Lumberjacks in Ashland, Wis. Saturday. 

Zach Smith had another big offensive night, scoring 28 points. He also had eight rebounds and added five assists as Hamline improved to 2-1 overall on the young season. Jay Betts came off the bench to score 18 points and newcomer Kalu Abosi added 14 for HU. 

Smith was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line to cap a week that saw him go 33-for-35 from the charity stripe. The junior leads the MIAC with a 29,0 points per game average. His 25 field goals and 33 free throws also leads the league in its first week of play.

But it was the HU defense that turned the tide in this game. 

The Lumberjacks led most of the first half but a 9-2 run late in the session helped Hamline to a 37-35 lead at the break. 

Northland scored the first four points of the second half to grab the lead at 39-37 only to see Smith turn the tide the other way with a three-point play. HU pushed the lead to 10 points at 51-41 and then threw a blanket on the Lumberjacks late to keep them at bay the rest of the night.

Hamline did it on the boards as well with a 37-27 edge. In addition to Smith, Abosi had seven boards and Bret Lukes chipped in with five.

After three road games, HU now gets to show what it can do in the friendly confines of Hutton Arena. Hamline plays the first of three straight home games on Tuesday, November 22 against North Central (Minn,). Game time is 8:00 p.m.