ST. PAUL, Minn. – After digging themselves into an early hole, the Hamline men's basketball team (5-17, 3-14 MIAC) could not recover, falling to Augsburg (16-6, 12-5 MIAC) 91-78 on Wednesday night at Hutton Arena.
 
The Pipers trailed 22-6 five minutes into the action due to a 15-0 early run from the Auggies. The run indicated what type of first half was in store as Augsburg shot a solid 54.8% from the floor and connected on eight of their 16 attempts from long range while Hamline only shot 43.8% and connected on one of their six shots (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc. Augsburg headed into the locker room with a 48-35 lead at the half.
 
The second half didn't prove to be any different as Augsburg continued their hot shooting without missing a beat as they shot 51.9% from the floor. They did settle down from outside as they hit only three of 11 from downtown but connected on 12 of their 17 attempts from the line to weather the late surge from Hamline.
 
HU figured it out offensively as they shot a hot 53.8% from the floor on 14 of 26 attempts and only missed one shot from the charity stripe in the second half, connecting on 13 of 14.
 
The Pipers came out of the break with an 8-0 run led by junior Michael Dillon to cut the lead to seven with 16 and a half minutes left but that's about as close as the Pipers would get until a pair of free throws from sophomore Luke Siwek cut the lead to six with eight minutes remaining. Augsburg was able to hold on, however, stretching their lead to double digits before the final buzzer.
     
Hamline was led by Dillon, Siwek, and junior Trey Prince as they scored 23, 16, and 10, respectively. Prince led the team in rebounding with six and assists with four. Dillon was efficient from the floor connecting on eight of his 14 attempts (57.1%) while shooting a perfect 6-6 from the line and Prince was a solid four of six all from inside the arc (66.6%).
 
The Augies were led by the offensive trio of Carter Duncan, Joe Palmer, and Division III reigning Player of the Year (named by NABC) Booker Coplin as they scored 17, 16, and 37, respectively. Duncan recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds as well while shooting eight of twelve from the floor (66.6%) and Coplin shot 50% on 11 of 22 overall while also connecting on five of 10 three point attempts.
 
The Pipers are next in action this weekend as they will travel to Saint Mary's for a 1:00 p.m. game. They will then travel to Carleton on February 19 before playing their final game of the season at home on February 22 against Concordia.