St. Paul, MN -- Tonight, North Central University (NCU) Men's Basketball faced the Hamline University (HU) Pipers for a matchup in Hutton Arena. Last season when these two teams met, the Rams fell short and took a loss from the Pipers with a final score of 68-58. Tonight, the Rams got out to a slow start as they found themselves down 21 points with 7 minutes left in the first half. NCU flipped the switch late in the first and rode that momentum into the second as they successfully completed the comeback with a 94-87 win. The Rams shot an outstanding 84% (21-25) from the field and 71.4% (10-14) from deep as they executed at a high clip. This is North Central's first win over Hamline since 2014.
To begin the first half, the Pipers started strong with an 11-point run, holding the Rams to just two points after the first 5 minutes. The Rams' offense looked a bit dysfunctional at times, while the Pipers managed to put together multiple double-digit scoring runs. Hamline eventually gained their largest lead of the contest at 30-9 with just under 7 minutes to play. All of a sudden, NCU flipped a switch offensively and started to rapidly cut into the Pipers' lead. North Central's
Malik Siggers and
Nik Feller provided the bulk of the offense in the first half. Siggers had a series of layups and was active at the rim, while Feller contributed with a pair of three-pointers, including a last-second shot to close out the half. Although North Central struggled early on, they were able to keep the deficit to single digits at 41-32 heading into halftime.
The second half of the game saw an intense comeback from the Rams. While the teams traded buckets early in the half, North Central caught fire from deep as they managed to hit four straight threes to take their first lead of the game at 54-52 with 13:48 to play.
Malik Siggers was efficient offensively, finishing with a significant impact down the stretch.
Tanner Holtman also played a crucial role, knocking down timely three-pointers, including a fast-break three that gave his team a 72-66 lead midway through the second half. NCU started stoking it from three-point range, totaling 15 made three-pointers and 60% shooting on the night. Despite the defensive efforts and continued scoring from the Pipers, the Rams' high-octane second half offense was too much to overcome. North Central completed the exhilarating comeback with a final score of 94-87 in regulation.
Top Performers:
Looking Ahead:
Up next, the men will return to Minneapolis to host the UW-Stout (UWS) Blue Devils. The game is set for Wednesday, December 4th at 7:00 PM.
All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X) pages for updates on men's basketball and all things NCU Athletics.
