University of St. Thomas Athletics
Hamline
Men's Hoops gets 72-64 win over Pipers
12/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Freshman guard Tyler Nicolai had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists and host St. Thomas outscored Hamline 5-0 in the final 3:00 and pulled out a 72-64 victory in MIAC men's basketball play Monday night at UST's Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (6-1 overall, 2-0 MIAC), who won their fifth game in a row, had only nine turnovers and shot 48% from the field (27-of-56).
UST won its 20th consecutive home game vs. conference foes and improved to 29-0 all-time vs. Hamline in men's basketball play at Schoenecker.
The Pipers (2-4, 2-1) received 22 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks from freshman center Carl Hipp. Tony Thrasher added 14 points and Nick Carroll scored 10 points.
The Toms made just 3-of-10 foul shots in the first half and trailed 36-33 at halftime. But a 10-0 St. Thomas run midway through the second half let it take the lead to stay. It was tied 48-48 with 10:30 to play when UST used two B.J. Viau free throws, a steal and layup by Lonnie Robinson, and consecutive treys by Joe Scott to build a 58-48 lead.
The Pipers later pulled within 67-64 with 3:03 left, but a runner by Nicolai and a 3-pointer by Scott pushed the lead back to eight.
Scott, the Toms leading scorer on the season at 15.7 ppg, was scoreless through the first 31 minutes, but finished with nine points. David Baker chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds for UST, and Viau and Robinson each had eight points.
Hipp had 16 first-half points but picked up three quick fouls in the second half.
Click here to view box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/mbb/stats/12-1MBB.HTM
Lonnie Robinson had another steady game for the Tommies with eight points. (Greg Smith photo)
Joe Scott (12) hit three huge treys in the final 10:00. (Greg Smith photo)
Sophomore David Baker had 10 points and nine boards for UST. (Greg Smith photo)
Tyler Nicolai is shooting 62% on the season from the field. (Greg Smith photo)
To view or purchase Greg Smith sction shots of St. Thomas athletics, click here:
