MINNEAPOLIS – The Augsburg University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon, falling 76-73 to Hamline University in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Hamline 76, Augsburg 73
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.   
RECORDS: Augsburg 4-9 overall (2-6 MIAC), Hamline 8-4 overall (4-3 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Following a 6-6 tie early in the first half, the Pipers managed an 11-2 run that gave them a nine-point lead at 17-8. The Auggies managed to cut the deficit to just three with 8:32 remaining in the half, but the Pipers would score seven unanswered to take their biggest lead of the game at 30-20 with 6:21 on the clock. Augsburg continued to fight throughout the remainder of the half, finally managing to tie the game up at 32-32 with 2:01 on the clock. The Pipers would score the half's only remaining bucket to take a 34-32 lead to halftime.
• The Pipers came out with the first two baskets of the second half to extend their lead to seven, but the Auggies continued to fight as they tied the game up at 39, 41, and 44 before taking their first lead since the game's opening minutes at 46-44 with 15:42 left to play. The Auggies maintained the lead for the following five minutes, but Hamline jumped back on top at 54-52 near the midpoint of the half. The Auggies would briefly regain the advantage at 58-57 with 7:39 to play, but it proved to be short lived as the Pipers would hit a three-pointer just over ten seconds later to take a lead they would never relinquish.
•Trailing by 10 with 2:51 to play, the Auggies refused to throw in the towel as they continued to battle and cut the deficit to just two points with under thirty seconds to play. The Piper advantage proved to be just too large to overcome, however, as they hung on for the three-point win.
• Bradley Winter (SR, Winona, Minn./Winona HS) led the Auggies in scoring and tied for the team lead in rebounds, finishing with 16 points on 6-12 shooting while pulling down seven boards.  
• Conner Knoepfle (SR, Andover, Minn./Andover HS) was just behind him with 14 points on 5-13 shooting and Will Blascziek (SO, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) tallied 13 points on 5-11 shooting, also adding four rebounds. Kayser Hasaan (FY, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) added seven points and six rebounds while Isaac Rabaey (SO, Hastings, Minn./Hastings HS) logged seven rebounds and five points off the bench.
• The Pipers were the better shooting team as a unit, hitting 27 of their 56 attempts (48.2%) compared to Augsburg's 28-66 (42.4%) performance. Augsburg cashed in 14 offensive rebounds to outscore the Pipers 15-10 on second-chance opportunities and showed a significant advantage in depth with a 17-0 advantage in points off its bench.

FOR THE FOES
• All five of Hamline's starters finished in double figures as Austin Holt scored 22, Sam Hoffman tallied 21, Bradley Cimperman scored 12, and Brendan Ebel and Mick Wherley added 11 and 10, respectively.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will return to action next Saturday (1/14) when they host St. Olaf College at Si Melby Hall at 1 pm.