Box Score Although they were playing nearly 2,000 miles away in California, Zach Smith and the Hamline men's basketball team found a way to warm the hearts of supporters Friday night. The senior guard poured in 31 points as the Pipers rallied past the No. 5 D-III team in the country with a come-from-behind 73-71 win over Williams in Thousand Oaks, California.

Isaac Brooks added 14 points and a career high 12 rebounds with Nick Powell contributing 10 markers off the bench as the Pipers evened the overall record at 5-5 with their biggest win in years in a game played at Cal Lutheran College. 

The Ephs, who advanced to the D-III semifinals last season, came into the game ranked No. 5 in the country in the latest d3hoops.com poll with an 8-1 overall record. They scored the game's first eight points and pushed the lead to nine at 23-14 midway through the first half. In a sign of things to come, HU roared back with nine unanswered points -- five by Powell -- in a 3 1/2 minute span to quickly tie the game. Williams eventually led, 34-29, at halftime. 

Williams upped the margin to 14 at 50-36 with 13:43 remaining when the Pipers started to make their move. HU went on a 14-2 run in a four-minute span to get back within a basket at 52-50. Smith, who finished just one point shy of his career high for a game, hit a jumper to tie the game at 60 with 4:47 left in the second half. The Burnsville, Minn. native then stole the ball and finished off a three-point play to give HU a lead at 63-60. The Ephs fought back to tie the game on three more occasions before Smith gave HU the lead for good at 71-69 with 57 seconds left. Smith then sealed matters with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left.

The Pipers were excellent from the field (53.8 percent, 16-24 in the second half alone), the free throw line (10-11 for the game) and, thanks in part to Brooks, finished with a 30-27 rebounding edge. Brooks was not alone in grabbing boards. Seven other Pipers also did so, including Dylan See-Rockers, who snared four and also had two steals. 

The win capped quite a trip for the Pipers, who bested host Cal Lutheran, 66-61, Thursday. Hamline now heads into MIAC play for the rest of the season. The Pipers (1-4 in MIAC games) play at Augsburg (7-2 overall, 3-2 MIAC) on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 7:00 p.m. Then, HU gets back on the Hutton Arena floor for three games in a five day span. The first of this troika will be the Pipers' first home game in a month against Macalester on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1:00 p.m. Bethel visits on Monday, Jan. 8 and Carleton finishes off the homestand on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Both those games are 7:00 p.m. tipoffs.