ST. PAUL, Minn. - In their final tune-up before conference play, the Hamline men's basketball team (1-2) saw St. Thomas (1-0) pull away in the second half to claim an 81-52 non-conference victory at Hutton Arena on Wednesday night.
 
The Pipers entered the halftime break only down four, trailing 34-30, but the Tommies would have the stronger second half, outscoring HU 47-22 to win it. St. Thomas shot well in the win, hitting 50.8% (30-59) of their attempts. Hamline shot well in the first half, owning the higher shooting percentage after the first 20 minutes of play at 42.3%, but UST put up a blazing 62.1 field goal percentage in the second half compared to HU's 30.4%.
 
HU stayed consistent from the free throw line, making 11 of 13 (84.6%) and they currently lead the MIAC in free throw percentage at 78.0% on the season.
 
In addition to shooting well, St. Thomas held a substantial edge in rebounds (39-22), scoring 18 points off of second chances, as well as getting 16 points off of Hamline turnovers.
 
The Pipers had eight different players score in the loss, with Jake Larson and Luke Siwek leading the way with 14 and 13 points, respectively. This was the third straight game that the junior duo has reached double figures and both rank in the top-10 in the MIAC in scoring in the early season stats.
 
Sophomore Jake Veldman added eight points for HU, hitting two of three from downtown. Larson led the Pipers on the boards, collecting five rebounds, with Michael Dillon, Siwek, and Trey Prince all chipping in with four.
 
The Tommies started the game well, leading by eight (19-11) with nine minutes left in the half. Larson would score five straight points for the Pipers, cutting the lead to only three, but UST built it back up to eight with 4:30 to go, at 26-18. Hamline once again answered as Larson and Siwek combined for seven points to make it 26-25. Scoring for the final minutes of the half went back-and-forth, with St. Thomas bringing a four-point advantage into the break, leading 34-30.  
 
UST opened the second half on an 8-2 scoring run to push their lead to 10 and after the first five minutes, they would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, coming away with the 81-52 decision.
 
The Pipers open the conference season this weekend, hosting No. 3 Saint John's at Hutton Arena. The Johnnies are 1-0 on the year so far, after defeating Saint Mary's last week. Game time is 2:00 p.m. with links for video and stats on the schedule page.