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.
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