ST. PAUL, Minn. - North Central University men's basketball (1-3) lost to Hamline University (3-1), 83-57, in St. Paul, Minnesota on Tuesday evening. Travis Voigt (Green Bay, Wis./NEW Lutheran) lead the Rams with 19 points and five rebounds in the loss to the Pipers. Isaiah Rustad (Hudson, Iowa/Hudson) added seven points and four rebounds for the Rams.

The Rams kept the game close in the first eight minutes of the first half but were not able to complete the comeback against the Pipers. North Central held the lead over Hamline, 8-7, early in the first half; however, the Pipers then held the Rams without a point for three minutes and completed a 9-0 run to lead 16-8 before North Central called a timeout. The Rams would not regain the lead again before the final buzzer. The half ended 38-26 in favor of the Pipers. At the half North Central was shooting 11-33 on field goals and just 3-15 beyond the arc. Hamline finished the half 15-30 on field goals and 4-10 on three point field goals. Hamline also tallied 19 rebounds to North Central's 15 boards. 

In the second half the Rams came out aggresive on offensive but could not convert. With the aggressive offense came heavy defensive pressure which saw two Rams in foul trouble and eventually foul out of the game, CJ Lewis (Minneapolis, Minn./Bloomington Kennedy) and Jared High (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo). Sophomore Levi Herrick (Minocqua, Wis./Lakeland Union) came off the bench for the Rams and grabbed five boards and tallied 4 points. Hamline's offense proved to be too much for the Rams to extend the lead to 44-29 with 14:39 left in the game. North Central would chip away at the Pipers lead but eventually fall 83-57 in Hutton Arena. Isaac Brooks had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Pipers.

North Central University men's basketball will return to competition on December 2 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) season opener against St. Scholastica at 7:30 p.m. The game will be held at Crown College due to other activities at NCU. Live video and stats will be provided for the game and can be found here.