Hamline's men's basketball team placed four players in double figures but Gustavus Adolphus held them off at the end for an 80-72 decision Thursday in St. Peter. 

Ethan Scheuring connected on eight free throws for half of his team high 16 points. Jake Larson continued his upward scoring trend with 15 points. Connor Knutson added 13 with Michael Dillon unloading three three-pointers off the bench as part of an 11 point output. Knutson was the top Piper rebounder with seven. Isaac Brooks was held to six points but had a team high five assists. 

A Trey Prince three-pointer helped the Pipers get off the ground quickly as HU jumped to a 9-2 advantage in the first 3:11 of play. The kept the lead for the first 10 minutes until a 10-3 Gustie run inched them in front by 31-25. The Pipers shot 53.8 per cent from the field in the first half but the Gusties were even hotter at 59.4 and led 48-38 at intermission.

The Pipers used their edge at the free throw line to work their way back into contention. A Knutson charity toss made it a one point game at 55-54 with 14:21 left. Gustavus pushed the lead to eight but jumpers by Knutson and Scheuring kept HU within one score of tying the game at 75-72 with 3:38 to play. Gustavus, however, scored the final five points of the night for the win. Hamline is now 9-11 overall, 6-9 in MIAC play. They are tied with Gustavus for seventh place in the MIAC, a half game behind Concordia (who was idle Thursday). 

The Pipers stay busy with a pair of games at Hutton Arena in a three day period. St. Thomas visits Saturday, February 2 at 3:00 p.m. St. Mary's is at Hutton on Monday, February 4 for a 7:00 p.m. game.