St. Paul, Minn. – The St. Scholastica men's basketball team traveled to St. Paul this evening to take on their MIAC rivals, the Hamline Pipers. Both teams played a hard-fought opening half, with the Pipers taking a five-point lead into the half. However, in the second half, the Pipers were able to shoot over 60 percent from the field, defeating CSS tonight by a score of 83-63.
How it Happened
First Half
Hamline jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead before Aaron Keykal (Princeton, Minn./Princeton HS) got the Saints on the board with a layup to score their first points of the evening.
Keykal and Tanner Thomson (Woodbury, Minn./Stillwater HS) would score the next pair of field goals for CSS, with Keykal scoring another basket in the paint, and Thomson nailing a three-pointer, making the score 18-8 in favor of Hamline.
Koy Nelson (Port Wing, Wis./South Shore HS) kicked off a Saints run to get themselves back into the contest, scoring a pair of jumper before Kobe Karels (Cambridge, Minn./Isanti (Aurora University)) would drain two three-pointers to cut the Saints' deficit to just six points.
Jacquez Overstreet (Appleton, Wis./Oshkosh West (Marian University)) would get his night going for him with 7:19 left to play in the opening half, nailing a jumper, followed by scores from Thomson and Karels to make the game 28-24 with less than five minutes left to play.
Keykal and Thomson would combine for the Saints' next eight points to end the half, as Hamline took a 39-34 lead into the halftime break.
Second Half
Layups from Keykal and Overstreet kicked off the second half for the Saints and brought them to their closest deficit up to that point, trailing 39-38.
Following a Thomson layup moments later, the Pipers went on a quick 9-0 run before Karels would knock down another shot from beyond-the-arc, as Hamline now led 50-43.
Hamline would add to their total before the Saints could respond, as Keykal put an end to a 7-0 run with a layup.
Nelson and Karels would get field goals to fall for CSS around the seven minute mark in the second half, but the Pipers were able to build a sizable lead, leading 65-52.
With 4:30 left to play, Drelyn Jones (Leyden, Il./Leyden Highschool) knocked down a three-pointer, followed up with another field goal for CSS by Drey Wisdom (Oswego, Il./Oswego East Highschool) in the winding moments of this contest, but the Pipers were able to pull away in the second half, taking tonight's contest by a score of 83-63.
Top Performers
- Aaron Keykal (Princeton, Minn./Princeton HS) finished tonight's contest with a double-double, recording 16 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
- Kobe Karels (Cambridge, Minn./Isanti (Aurora University)) knocked down four three-pointers this evening, as he also logged 16 points in tonight's matchup.
Up Next
The Saints (3-5, 1-2 MIAC) will be back in action on Friday, where they will host the Cougars from Minnesota-Morris at the Reif Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
