RIVER FALLS, Wis. (uwrfsports.com) - The Falcons erased a nine-point deficit at halftime before losing a back-and-forth battle against Hamline 88-84 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in St. Paul, Minn.
Matt Keller had a chance to win the game in regulation but couldn't find the bottom of the net on his three-pointer, and the Pipers' Jake Larson also missed a three-pointer as time expired to send the game to overtime. Hamline used a 14-4 run in the opening three minutes of overtime to seal the game before a late push brought the Falcons within four points. It was the first time the Falcons had lost to Hamline since 2014.
UW-River Falls was aggressive early by finding most of their points in the post and making forwards Ethan Scheuring and Will Hoiseth get in early foul trouble. Scheuring would finish with 18 points and eight rebounds, but he was held scoreless in 13 minutes of action in the first half. The Pipers still led 15-10 after an early Falcons' lead before an 11-2 UWRF run was capped off by an emphatic
Julian Jackson dunk that swung the momentum back to UWRF and gave the Falcons a 21-17 lead.
However, the Pipers responded with their own 14-0 run that held the Falcons scoreless until
Jalen Greenlee made a floater to cut their deficit to 31-23 with five minutes remaining in the half. Three-pointers from
Austin Heidecker and
Nathan Macho, Jr. cut the lead to five with two minutes remaining, but UWRF still entered the half trailing 38-29. Both teams shot almost identical percentages from the field and from beyond the arc in the first half. The real difference was Hamline getting to the free throw line 11 more times than the Falcons, and UWRF committing seven turnovers on a few sloppy entry passes to the post. Connor Knutson had 12 of his 21 total points off the bench in the first half, while Isaac Brooks also added 13 points.
The Falcons were on a mission to chip away at the Pipers' lead as the second half wore on, finally breaking through with 14 minutes remaining when consecutive shots from Jackson,
Ross Ingersoll and Keller created a quick 8-0 run to cut Hamline's lead to 47-45. It would take almost seven more minutes before the Falcons could tie up the score again at 57-57 after a fast-break layup from Greenlee. Greenlee saw his most action of the season by playing 28 minutes on Saturday.
UWRF couldn't stretch the lead beyond one point in the following minutes and kept clawing back to re-take the lead. Keller hit a jumper with a minute remaining to make it three points at 69-66, but Scheuring converted a crucial and-one to retie the game at 69-69 and send the game to overtime. The high-scoring overtime period was marred with fouls and free throws as Hamline went 10-13 and UWRF was 8-10 from the charity stripe. A foul from Jackson and the technical that followed gave the Pipers four-straight free throws that created the 10-point lead the Falcons were unable to come back from. UWRF was also only 1-5 from beyond the arc in overtime.
Keller, Jackson and Heidecker all had over 17 points, but no other Falcons finished in double figures. Ingersoll had a big impact off the bench with nine points and 12 rebounds, and UWRF finished with 10 more fast break points than the Pipers. However, Hamline got to the free-throw line 21 more times than the Falcons. Heidecker also finished with 11 rebounds and is ninth in all of Division III with over 12 rebounds per game.
UWRF is now 5-4 on the season after the loss. They will have almost a full two weeks off before playing St. Scholastica in De Pere, Wis. on December 28. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
