After being listed as the #5 seed in the playoffs, we got to play in the bandbox of a gym they have at Carleton. It could make for a great atmosphere but it certainly doesn't. Huge advantage to Carleton right from the get go. We have played much better at home and I don't think there is any question about that. Another worry we had going into the game was the status of Ray Brown. Ray hyperextended his knee vs. St. Thomas hasn't been close to 100% in practice and we weren't sure how much he could go or go at all.
The game started out pretty good for us at we got the ball inside quite a bit to Carl Hipp. He scored pretty much whenever he wanted and we took control for a long stretch of the first half. The game then slowed to a snail's pace and the game didn't seem to have any flow. Carl got his second foul on a very questionable call and he still isn't to the point where we feel comfortable playing him while in foul trouble. Carleton then starting making a bunch of shots and we quickly were digging ourselves out of a hole and we ended up being down two at the half. Not exactly how we wanted to end the half.
The second half was quite the back and forth battle as neither team could pull away from each other. Carl got his 4th foul with about ten minutes left on a questionable call to say the least. Everything turned in Carleton's favor after that. We started helping a little more than normal on their bigs and they kicked it out for some 'dagger' 3's that we couldn't climb back from. We got back to within four a couple of times but couldn't get over the edge. Another call that didn't go our way was a potential "and 1" from Carl Hipp that the refs waived off because they said it happened before he got the ball. Inexcusable call but the refs and could've been a huge turning point for us, instead we got two free throws. We ended up losing by eight in a tough hard fought loss.
Carl had another monster scoring night with 26 on 10-13 shooting from the field, while going 6-14 from the line. We had no other players in double figures.
I personally want to thank our seniors for their hard work and dedication to turning things around here at Hamline. Thanks Nick, Danny, and Ray.
It seemed like every 50/50 call went their way. I'm not saying that the refs cheated but you are doing the kids a disservice when our kids are playing just as hard as the other team and not getting any respect. The stigma about Hamline is that we aren't any good, that is changing and hopefully the refs will change their misconceptions about our basketball program. We will battle with this until we are better than Gustavus, Carleton, St. John's, and St. Thomas. Nelson and I know it's the good ol' boys network (that we clearly aren't a part of) here in Minnesota but don't screw our kids.
By the way, Carleton beat St. Thomas last night in the Semis of the tournament and will play at Gustavus for the championship on Saturday.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
St. John's and St. Thomas
Haven't been posting lately because I've really focused on the last couple of games and our playoff game today vs. Carleton. We didn't exactly end the season the way we would have hoped but that's the nature of the beast in a tough conference.
St. John's
We went up there last Wednesday in what always seems like a tough game. Last year we lost to them by 946 and it doesn't get any easier in Collegeville (yes, that's the name of the town). We started off pretty well from the field and then went into a major funk as St. John's went on a 18-2 to go up 20-11. We just couldn't get anything going offensively and they were making some tough shots. Usually not a good combo.
The second half was more of the same as we couldn't get it going. We got down as many as 15 and just weren't clicking offensively. Then something happened. We went with Brandon Rieg, Jordan Schmidt, Noah Aguirre, Dan Andersen, and Andy Voigt. They cut the margin quickly while moving the basketball like crazy and getting open looks. We have consistently told the team when we move the ball with penetration and passing, no one in the league can cover us. That was clearly the case for that stretch. On top of that, we were getting stops defensively. We ended up getting up two with about 2:30 left. Those guys looked like they were running out of gas and we ended up putting Nick Carroll, Carl Hipp, and Ray Brown back in the game. We couldn't close out the win and lost by three. Another tough loss on the road for us.
We were led by Noah Aguirre's 16 points on 6-12 shooting. Carl had 14 and 11 while Dan Andersen had his first double double of his career with 11 and 11. Jordan Schmidt rounded out the scoring with 12.
St. Thomas
This was probably the biggest game of the last 20+ years for the Pipers. At stake was a playoff home game and a win against St. Thomas, which hasn't happened in a long time. We got off to a rough start. Never a good sign to be down early against a quality basketball team. We kept on fighting and ended up being down by 14 at the half. We turned the ball over way too much and couldn't get ourselves going on defense. Not exactly the way we wanted this game to begin.
The second half was more of the same, as we could never get it closer than eight. We had several chances at getting it closer but couldn't make shots. What we did show was our toughness, we didn't back down at all in the second half. We actually outrebounded them by 14, which is definitely a good sign. The problem was that they got to every loose ball. That's the difference between having strong juniors and seniors compared to freshmen and sophomores. We just didn't want it as much as they did, plain and simple.
Final score, St. Thomas - 80 Hamline - 69. We were led by Carl Hipp's double-double with 20 and 14. Ray Brown finished with 15, all in the first half. Dan Andersen also had double figures on Senior Night.
On another note, here a link to some College Sporting News MIAC Awards that were handed out recently. Congrats to Carl and Ray on a great regular season.
We have Carleton tonight in the first round of the playoffs. It can be seen this link.
St. John's
We went up there last Wednesday in what always seems like a tough game. Last year we lost to them by 946 and it doesn't get any easier in Collegeville (yes, that's the name of the town). We started off pretty well from the field and then went into a major funk as St. John's went on a 18-2 to go up 20-11. We just couldn't get anything going offensively and they were making some tough shots. Usually not a good combo.
The second half was more of the same as we couldn't get it going. We got down as many as 15 and just weren't clicking offensively. Then something happened. We went with Brandon Rieg, Jordan Schmidt, Noah Aguirre, Dan Andersen, and Andy Voigt. They cut the margin quickly while moving the basketball like crazy and getting open looks. We have consistently told the team when we move the ball with penetration and passing, no one in the league can cover us. That was clearly the case for that stretch. On top of that, we were getting stops defensively. We ended up getting up two with about 2:30 left. Those guys looked like they were running out of gas and we ended up putting Nick Carroll, Carl Hipp, and Ray Brown back in the game. We couldn't close out the win and lost by three. Another tough loss on the road for us.
We were led by Noah Aguirre's 16 points on 6-12 shooting. Carl had 14 and 11 while Dan Andersen had his first double double of his career with 11 and 11. Jordan Schmidt rounded out the scoring with 12.
St. Thomas
This was probably the biggest game of the last 20+ years for the Pipers. At stake was a playoff home game and a win against St. Thomas, which hasn't happened in a long time. We got off to a rough start. Never a good sign to be down early against a quality basketball team. We kept on fighting and ended up being down by 14 at the half. We turned the ball over way too much and couldn't get ourselves going on defense. Not exactly the way we wanted this game to begin.
The second half was more of the same, as we could never get it closer than eight. We had several chances at getting it closer but couldn't make shots. What we did show was our toughness, we didn't back down at all in the second half. We actually outrebounded them by 14, which is definitely a good sign. The problem was that they got to every loose ball. That's the difference between having strong juniors and seniors compared to freshmen and sophomores. We just didn't want it as much as they did, plain and simple.
Final score, St. Thomas - 80 Hamline - 69. We were led by Carl Hipp's double-double with 20 and 14. Ray Brown finished with 15, all in the first half. Dan Andersen also had double figures on Senior Night.
On another note, here a link to some College Sporting News MIAC Awards that were handed out recently. Congrats to Carl and Ray on a great regular season.
We have Carleton tonight in the first round of the playoffs. It can be seen this link.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
St. Mary's
We headed on the bus for the two hour trip down to Winona to take on the Cardinals from St. Mary's. We beat them by over 30 the first time and we knew coming in that this one was going to be tough one and it certainly was.
We got off to a decent start and were up by five, five minutes into the half. We made it a 21-17 game with about 13 minutes to play in the half and it went completely downhill from there. They went on a 15-0 run over the next six minutes and didn't look back the rest of the half. We were down 52-36 at the half after our worst offensive performance all second semester and our worst defensive performance of the year. It was very disappointing to watch and it didn't help that many of our guys got into foul trouble.
The second half was more of the same. We couldn't get things rolling for a while. We finally got it within single digits and St. Mary's answered with a 9-0 run of their own and never looked back. The final was an extremely ugly 98-77 loss for the Pipers. They flat out beat us to every facet of the game. We outrebounded them by over 20 the first time we played and they got us by six this time. Clearly, it was an emotionally letdown from our game Saturday against Gustavus. It clearly shows that anyone can beat anyone in our league.
We were led by Ray Brown's 33 point performance. Noah Aguirre played his best game in a while with 14 points with four offensive boards. Carl Hipp rounded out our double figure scorers with 10 in very limited minutes.
SMU was led by Lucas Holland's 22 on 11-12 from the line. Gary Seifert scored more points than he had all year with a career high 17. They also had three other double figure scorers. They shot a solid 50% from the floor and a astounding 32-35 from the line. Props to the Cardinals for their effort.
Even with the loss we still clinched a playoff spot and still have an outside shot at getting the 2 seed or a home game. We are a half game behind both Augsburg (who beat St. John's) and Gustavus (who lost to St. Olaf in OT) for 2nd place. Should be interesting to see what happens this weekend when we have our bye.
We have a week off before we play in Collegeville against St. John's on Senior Night. Hoping to ruin that night for them.
Carl Hipp was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for his performances last week.
We got off to a decent start and were up by five, five minutes into the half. We made it a 21-17 game with about 13 minutes to play in the half and it went completely downhill from there. They went on a 15-0 run over the next six minutes and didn't look back the rest of the half. We were down 52-36 at the half after our worst offensive performance all second semester and our worst defensive performance of the year. It was very disappointing to watch and it didn't help that many of our guys got into foul trouble.
The second half was more of the same. We couldn't get things rolling for a while. We finally got it within single digits and St. Mary's answered with a 9-0 run of their own and never looked back. The final was an extremely ugly 98-77 loss for the Pipers. They flat out beat us to every facet of the game. We outrebounded them by over 20 the first time we played and they got us by six this time. Clearly, it was an emotionally letdown from our game Saturday against Gustavus. It clearly shows that anyone can beat anyone in our league.
We were led by Ray Brown's 33 point performance. Noah Aguirre played his best game in a while with 14 points with four offensive boards. Carl Hipp rounded out our double figure scorers with 10 in very limited minutes.
SMU was led by Lucas Holland's 22 on 11-12 from the line. Gary Seifert scored more points than he had all year with a career high 17. They also had three other double figure scorers. They shot a solid 50% from the floor and a astounding 32-35 from the line. Props to the Cardinals for their effort.
Even with the loss we still clinched a playoff spot and still have an outside shot at getting the 2 seed or a home game. We are a half game behind both Augsburg (who beat St. John's) and Gustavus (who lost to St. Olaf in OT) for 2nd place. Should be interesting to see what happens this weekend when we have our bye.
We have a week off before we play in Collegeville against St. John's on Senior Night. Hoping to ruin that night for them.
Carl Hipp was named to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for his performances last week.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Gustavus
On Saturday, we took on the Gusties (another bad nickname) at Hutton Arena. This a rematch of the January 9th game in St. Peter where we lost a tough one, 73-66 after being in control for most of the game. It was a battle of the 2nd and 3rd place teams in the conference. It certainly didn't disappoint.
The first half had back and forth action with neither team really getting control. The half was at a rather pedestrian pace which certainly favored GAC (Gustavus Adolphus College for those non-Minnesotans). GAC did not shoot the ball particularly well in the 1st stanza shooting at a 33% clip (9-27). They also got the free throw line a bunch and were 10-14 from there. The Pipes were much better at 52% (12-23) but turned the ball over 11 times. All those turnovers were completely unnecessary because GAC doesn't pressure the ball at all. The score going into the locker rooms was 30-29 in favor of the Gusties. GAC was led by Phil Wirtjes and Ryan McPartland with six points each and shooting combined 6-6 from the line. We were led by Ray Brown's 11 and Carl Hipp's 9 and 7 boards.
The second half started out very well for us as we got the ball inside to Carl and he couldn't be stopped. We quickly got the lead to six four minutes into the half. GAC quickly turned that lead into a tie ball game with their methodical playmaking and clutch shooting from Wirtjes. The last eight minutes of the half were a flat out test of wills. Both teams were locked in defensively and it was clear that neither team wanted to lose this game. GAC was kept in the game by freshman James Hill's shooting. We lost him on the defensive end a couple of times and each time he hit us with daggers. We ended
up force feeding "The Nasty One" Carl Hipp and he delivered every time in the post. He even made a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch to give the Pipers a huge win, 66-63.
There were several great things for us during Saturday's game. One, we got the "W," in a game that had Gustavus written all over it. Two, we beat them on the boards after getting beat by 15 the first time we played them. Three, our crowd was great and was very instrumental in the win. Four, a couple of players from the 40's and 50's were there including NBA Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen. It's always great to see our alums there supporting us. And five, Carl Hipp scored his 1,000 career point on clutch free throws down the stretch, congrats to Carl.
Carl led us with his 2nd consecutive 29 point game to go along with 12 boards. Ray Brown also hit the 20 point barrier to go along with 5 boards and 4 huge blocks. Nick Carroll once again gave a great defensive effort. Though, we didn't get another double figure scorer, we did get some great minutes off the bench by Levi Wenrich, Brandon Rieg, and Christian Taber aka Danny Ainge.
We have off until Wednesday when we travel to Winona to play St. Mary's. It's another pivotal game for us at we stand at 15-7 and 11-6 in the conference to stand 1/2 game behind GAC for 2nd place and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
The first half had back and forth action with neither team really getting control. The half was at a rather pedestrian pace which certainly favored GAC (Gustavus Adolphus College for those non-Minnesotans). GAC did not shoot the ball particularly well in the 1st stanza shooting at a 33% clip (9-27). They also got the free throw line a bunch and were 10-14 from there. The Pipes were much better at 52% (12-23) but turned the ball over 11 times. All those turnovers were completely unnecessary because GAC doesn't pressure the ball at all. The score going into the locker rooms was 30-29 in favor of the Gusties. GAC was led by Phil Wirtjes and Ryan McPartland with six points each and shooting combined 6-6 from the line. We were led by Ray Brown's 11 and Carl Hipp's 9 and 7 boards.
The second half started out very well for us as we got the ball inside to Carl and he couldn't be stopped. We quickly got the lead to six four minutes into the half. GAC quickly turned that lead into a tie ball game with their methodical playmaking and clutch shooting from Wirtjes. The last eight minutes of the half were a flat out test of wills. Both teams were locked in defensively and it was clear that neither team wanted to lose this game. GAC was kept in the game by freshman James Hill's shooting. We lost him on the defensive end a couple of times and each time he hit us with daggers. We ended
up force feeding "The Nasty One" Carl Hipp and he delivered every time in the post. He even made a couple of clutch free throws down the stretch to give the Pipers a huge win, 66-63.There were several great things for us during Saturday's game. One, we got the "W," in a game that had Gustavus written all over it. Two, we beat them on the boards after getting beat by 15 the first time we played them. Three, our crowd was great and was very instrumental in the win. Four, a couple of players from the 40's and 50's were there including NBA Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen. It's always great to see our alums there supporting us. And five, Carl Hipp scored his 1,000 career point on clutch free throws down the stretch, congrats to Carl.
Carl led us with his 2nd consecutive 29 point game to go along with 12 boards. Ray Brown also hit the 20 point barrier to go along with 5 boards and 4 huge blocks. Nick Carroll once again gave a great defensive effort. Though, we didn't get another double figure scorer, we did get some great minutes off the bench by Levi Wenrich, Brandon Rieg, and Christian Taber aka Danny Ainge.
We have off until Wednesday when we travel to Winona to play St. Mary's. It's another pivotal game for us at we stand at 15-7 and 11-6 in the conference to stand 1/2 game behind GAC for 2nd place and a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Bethel
Last night we caught against another hot team in Bethel. Who is probably the school in the country that's mascot is the Royals and yet their main color is navy blue. They had won five of their last six games including beating second place Gustavus. They have some very capable scorers to go along with a very productive big guy, Nate Robertson. It was a must win game for both of us. For Bethel, they needed it to really have a chance at the making the playoffs and for us, we needed it to keep up with the 'Joneses' of the conference.
Game started with a bang (literally) for us as Ray Brown made a great pass to Carl Hipp for a thunderous one hand dunk. We built up a good lead throughout the first half and we up as many as 13 before Bethel battled back behind the pull-up jumper shooting of Daniel Baah. The halftime score was 39-35 in favor of the Pipers.
We were led by Hipp's 14 points and eight rebounds. Christian Taber, aka Danny Ainge, had a great first half performance with 8 points and a bunch of hustle plays. The Royals were led by Baah's 17 points on 7-9 shooting.
The second
half was a back and forth contest until about the eight minute mark. We just couldn't get away from them. At that point, Nick Carroll had one of his three blocks on Baah's jumper and that led to a Ray Brown 3. We then hit two more 3's in the next three possessions, both by Brandon Rieg and got our lead up to eight. There was no looking back after that. Our offense was clicking on all cylinders and we got the lead up to 16 as time expired.
We were led by Carl Hipp's monsterous performance of 29 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks to go along with a bunch of tipped passes. Ray had a solid performance of 16 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists. Brandon Rieg played his most complete game of the season with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from 3 and did an excellent job defensively. Danny Ainge (Taber) rounded out our double digit scoring with 11.
Bethel was led by Baah's 21 with only four coming in the second half. He also sat for a long stretch in the second half when they needed scores, not sure why. Nate Robertson had 19 on 4-13 shooting from the field. He was 11-12 from the line. His 63% foul shooting before last night went up significantly. Chris Vavra was the other double figure scorer with 13.
We have a huge game on Saturday at home against Gustavus. With the win, it could put us on the brink of a home playoff game. Our 14 wins tied the most amount of wins since the 1993-94 season. We now stand at 14-7 and 10-6 in the MIAC.
Thanks to Ryan Coleman from D3Photography for the photos.
Game started with a bang (literally) for us as Ray Brown made a great pass to Carl Hipp for a thunderous one hand dunk. We built up a good lead throughout the first half and we up as many as 13 before Bethel battled back behind the pull-up jumper shooting of Daniel Baah. The halftime score was 39-35 in favor of the Pipers.
We were led by Hipp's 14 points and eight rebounds. Christian Taber, aka Danny Ainge, had a great first half performance with 8 points and a bunch of hustle plays. The Royals were led by Baah's 17 points on 7-9 shooting.
The second
half was a back and forth contest until about the eight minute mark. We just couldn't get away from them. At that point, Nick Carroll had one of his three blocks on Baah's jumper and that led to a Ray Brown 3. We then hit two more 3's in the next three possessions, both by Brandon Rieg and got our lead up to eight. There was no looking back after that. Our offense was clicking on all cylinders and we got the lead up to 16 as time expired.We were led by Carl Hipp's monsterous performance of 29 points, 14 boards, and 5 blocks to go along with a bunch of tipped passes. Ray had a solid performance of 16 points, 8 boards, and 6 assists. Brandon Rieg played his most complete game of the season with 12 points on 4-5 shooting from 3 and did an excellent job defensively. Danny Ainge (Taber) rounded out our double digit scoring with 11.
Bethel was led by Baah's 21 with only four coming in the second half. He also sat for a long stretch in the second half when they needed scores, not sure why. Nate Robertson had 19 on 4-13 shooting from the field. He was 11-12 from the line. His 63% foul shooting before last night went up significantly. Chris Vavra was the other double figure scorer with 13.
We have a huge game on Saturday at home against Gustavus. With the win, it could put us on the brink of a home playoff game. Our 14 wins tied the most amount of wins since the 1993-94 season. We now stand at 14-7 and 10-6 in the MIAC.
Thanks to Ryan Coleman from D3Photography for the photos.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Concordia-Moorhead
This was a big bounce back game for us. After a tough loss to Carleton it was important for us to get this win for our own mental state as well as a win in the standings. Concordia had really been struggling as of late and was in second to last place in the standings for the MIAC. They really concerned us because they were capable of beating just about anyone in the conference because of their talent level. They have experienced players at just about every position and they have shooters that haven't shot the ball well in a while.
Just as we suspected before the game, they got hot and started off with a bang and a flurry of 3's. We just looked flat and our guys looked surprised that they were actually making shots. It seemed like everything they threw up went in. It didn't help that we couldn't get things going on the offensive end either. They ended up shooting 48% from the floor and 5-8 from three. Their shooting seemed a lot better from our perspective. It didn't help that were 12-32 from the floor to go along with 5-13 from free throw line. Ray Brown was really getting to the rim but was struggling big time from the line shooting 4-10 in the first half. We were down 41-34 at the break.
After trading baskets for a while, we finally got even around the 13 minute mark. We went on a little run and got up as many as seven. It seemed like we had them right were we wanted them. I was wrong. They battled back and went up by five just as quickly. Then we battled back and actually played, what I thought, our best offensive basketball of the season. We were moving the ball, penetrating, and getting it inside. Carl Hipp scored seven points in the last two minutes and we held on for a three point victory with four made free throws from Ray Brown and Carl Hipp.
Our fantastic (I'm oozing sarcasm right now) held to them to 50% shooting and a stellar 11-17 from three. Certainly not the way we wanted to win but we'll take it, especially at this point in the season.
Ray led us again with 25 on 6-12 shooting, 4-7 from 3, and 9-16 from line. He also led us in rebounds with 10. Carl also had a solid night offensively with 22 on 8-12 shooting from the floor and 6-8 from the line. Freshmen (not first years, as every else calls them) Jordan Schmidt and Christian Taber both hit two 3's and finished with 14 and 10 points respectively.
With the win, we are now 13-7 and 9-6 in the MIAC. That win clinched the first winning season in 16 years at Hamline. We still aren't done though. We need to keep pushing to get a home game for the league playoffs. Home vs. Bethel tonight in another tough MIAC game.
Just as we suspected before the game, they got hot and started off with a bang and a flurry of 3's. We just looked flat and our guys looked surprised that they were actually making shots. It seemed like everything they threw up went in. It didn't help that we couldn't get things going on the offensive end either. They ended up shooting 48% from the floor and 5-8 from three. Their shooting seemed a lot better from our perspective. It didn't help that were 12-32 from the floor to go along with 5-13 from free throw line. Ray Brown was really getting to the rim but was struggling big time from the line shooting 4-10 in the first half. We were down 41-34 at the break.
After trading baskets for a while, we finally got even around the 13 minute mark. We went on a little run and got up as many as seven. It seemed like we had them right were we wanted them. I was wrong. They battled back and went up by five just as quickly. Then we battled back and actually played, what I thought, our best offensive basketball of the season. We were moving the ball, penetrating, and getting it inside. Carl Hipp scored seven points in the last two minutes and we held on for a three point victory with four made free throws from Ray Brown and Carl Hipp.
Our fantastic (I'm oozing sarcasm right now) held to them to 50% shooting and a stellar 11-17 from three. Certainly not the way we wanted to win but we'll take it, especially at this point in the season.
Ray led us again with 25 on 6-12 shooting, 4-7 from 3, and 9-16 from line. He also led us in rebounds with 10. Carl also had a solid night offensively with 22 on 8-12 shooting from the floor and 6-8 from the line. Freshmen (not first years, as every else calls them) Jordan Schmidt and Christian Taber both hit two 3's and finished with 14 and 10 points respectively.
With the win, we are now 13-7 and 9-6 in the MIAC. That win clinched the first winning season in 16 years at Hamline. We still aren't done though. We need to keep pushing to get a home game for the league playoffs. Home vs. Bethel tonight in another tough MIAC game.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Carleton
We had another battle with Carleton on Saturday, this time on their home court. They had been playing well, winning their previous three games. They are always a tough matchup because all of their players can shoot the 3 and it forces Carl to play defense on the perimeter.
The game started with some back and forth action. Nobody really set the tone. Both teams made some tough shots and the score at the half was 34-30 Carleton. I certainly wasn't happy with the way we were playing but that is somewhat expected on the road. We were called for an intentional foul right before the half and it gave Carleton the momentum. It clearly wasn't an intentional and it's unfortunate that it was called that way, not the first time we have gotten screwed on a call like that.
The second half started off well for us as Ray Brown got hot. We kept giving him the ball and he was either scoring or getting to the free throw line. Ray had one of the best dunks I have ever seen in person in the middle of the half. He crossed up a player at the top of the key and then skied for a dunk and an and one to boot. He then missed the free throw but we have the momentum. That momentum didn't last long as Carleton battled back to get it tied quickly.
Down the stretch there were a couple of questionable calls going both ways and neither coach was happy. We were up two with about a minute and a half left and they ran a little screen the screener play and got a wide open look for three and drained it. We had a couple of chances at the end to either go up or to tie it and couldn't put one in the basket.
We ended up losing 66-63 and it dropped us from 3rd to 5th in the standings. Tough loss for the Pipers but one we need to learn from and get better.
The game started with some back and forth action. Nobody really set the tone. Both teams made some tough shots and the score at the half was 34-30 Carleton. I certainly wasn't happy with the way we were playing but that is somewhat expected on the road. We were called for an intentional foul right before the half and it gave Carleton the momentum. It clearly wasn't an intentional and it's unfortunate that it was called that way, not the first time we have gotten screwed on a call like that.
The second half started off well for us as Ray Brown got hot. We kept giving him the ball and he was either scoring or getting to the free throw line. Ray had one of the best dunks I have ever seen in person in the middle of the half. He crossed up a player at the top of the key and then skied for a dunk and an and one to boot. He then missed the free throw but we have the momentum. That momentum didn't last long as Carleton battled back to get it tied quickly.
Down the stretch there were a couple of questionable calls going both ways and neither coach was happy. We were up two with about a minute and a half left and they ran a little screen the screener play and got a wide open look for three and drained it. We had a couple of chances at the end to either go up or to tie it and couldn't put one in the basket.
We ended up losing 66-63 and it dropped us from 3rd to 5th in the standings. Tough loss for the Pipers but one we need to learn from and get better.
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