Throughout the season, the Pipers have shown they are a force to be reckoned with, especially inside the confines of Minnesota’s first University. Consistency has been a vital factor for the team’s success on and off the court.
Although the season is wrapping up, the intensity is as high as ever. With a four game stretch in the final seven days of the regular season the Pipers will need to fire on all cylinders to find success.
“I think we’re just a really good group that really enjoy each other and enjoy pushing and challenging each other, but also we’re close off the court as well,” head coach Jim Hayes said.
The team’s depth has kept them afloat and consistently in the win column throughout the season. At the time of this article the Pipers have amounted to 11–4 in conference record.
This dominance among MIAC rivals has helped the Pipers establish themselves as a premier contender not only in the conference but across the midwest.
“One of the big things that we’ve seen is that we’re a much deeper team and anyone can be our leading scorer any given night,” junior Bradley Cimperman said.
Hamline has outshot opponents by 4 percent to this point, a small advantage however this has helped the Pipers boast a +6.4 margin of victory. They have also out rebounded and have allowed fewer turnovers than opponents all season long.
The little things have proven to be important for the Pipers achieving success. In the midst of fast paced games, these things will be looked over but staying positive for these differentials leads to a higher chance of victory every game.
“Our energy and passion during practice and games has been a consistent factor, especially during our recent win streak,” Cimpermann said. “That’s been crucial and comes from every guy whether they play 30 minutes a game or play in our JV games.”
The remaining stretch consists of several familiar foes for the birthplace of intercollegiate basketball. They will host Carleton College and Macalester at Hutton this week and then will hit the road to face off against Saint Scholastica up in Duluth on Valentine’s Dday. The final contest of the regular season will take place on Feb. 17 in Saint Peter against Gustavus Adolphus.
“Nothing more than just continuing to play at a high level and then live with the results, right, we kind of try to be process oriented, less result oriented,” Hayes said. “You know, certainly it’s a result-oriented business by now.”
Nonetheless the results have been in Hamline’s favor in over two thirds of games to this point. With the team’s ability to fight even when short handed along with multi-faceted dominance across the board, the Pipers will have a lot to look forward to once the postseason begins.