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.
No comments:
Post a Comment