Men's Basketball --
Devean George reaches 2,000 career points in 70-68 win over St. Mary's!
Winona Daily News -- "Auggies break SMU's heart"
WINONA, Minn., (2/1/99) --
Devean George (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS) became the third Augsburg College men's basketball player to eclipse the 2,000-point career scoring mark Monday night (2/1), with a 23-point effort in Augsburg's 70-68 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over St. Mary's University at the SMU Gymnasium.
With his 23-point, 10-rebound performance against the Cardinals, George now has 2,008 career points and 746 career rebounds. The scoring total is the third-highest in school history, behind Dan Anderson (2,052 points, 1961-65) and current head coach Brian Ammann (2,271 points, 1981-85). He is now third in school history in rebounds. The record, held by Anderson, is 1,211 rebounds.
George, a multiple All-America selection and MIAC Most Valuable Player last year, scored in double figures for the 82nd time in his 86-game career, and the 74th time in his last 75 games. The double-double was George's 28th of his career (12th this season), and his scoring performance marked the 57th time in his career that he has scored 20 or more points in a single game.
George reached the 2,000-point mark on a slam dunk with 5:45 remaining in the game, part of a 14-3 Augsburg run that eventually gave the Auggies the lead for the first time since a 4-3 lead early in the ballgame. George also had two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in the game.
Jeoffrey Reed (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle HS) put the Auggies ahead to stay at 69-66 by hitting a three-pointer with 16.6 seconds remaining in the second half.
Jason Beckendorf (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) had tied the game at 66-66 on a layup with 56.8 seconds left.
Augsburg, with its 12th straight victory, is now 16-2 overall and 13-1 in the MIAC. St. Mary's drops to 7-11 overall and 5-9 in the MIAC. Augsburg is 63-23 in games George has played in his four-year varsity career.
"Right now, I tell people, 'If there's a better Division III player in the country, I want to see him,' " Augsburg's Ammann told the Winona Daily News in a story on the game (click here to view). "If they don't send two-three guys to block down on him, like St. Mary's did, you're not going to stop him."
Beckendorf had 12 points and six rebounds in the game, while Reed had 11 points, four assists and two steals, going 8-of-9 at the free-throw line.
Kris Long (Sr., Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS), had 11 points and six rebounds, and
Kevin Van Rossum (Jr., Green Bay, Wis./Preble HS) had 10 points.
The Cardinals' Ryan Rankin (So., Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame Academy) led all scorers with 30 points and six rebounds. John Oleksyn (So., Downers Grove, Ill./DG North HS) and Jason Boll (Fr., Sauk Prairie, Wis.) had 11 points apiece.
Augsburg hosts St. Thomas on Wednesday night (2/3) at 7:30 p.m., while St. Mary's plays at St. Olaf.
Augsburg 70, St. Mary's University 68
Feb. 1, 1999 at SMU Gymnasium, Winona, Minn.
Attendance: 400.
Technical Fouls: None.
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Augsburg College (16-2 overall, 13-1 MIAC) 25 45 70
St. Mary's University (7-11 overall, 5-9 MIAC) 31 37 68
Augsburg College (70) FGs 3FGs FTs O-D--Reb PF Pts. Ast. Trn. Blk. Stl. MP
*3 Jeoffrey Reed 1-1 1-1 8-9 1-1--2 2 11 4 2 1 2 34
*22 Kevin Van Rossum 3-9 2-6 2-2 0-0--0 0 10 0 2 0 0 24
12 Joe Hell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0+
24 Josh Natzel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 1 0 0 0 0 1 6
31 Eric Herried 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1--1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3
32 John Anderson 0-2 0-2 0-0 0-1--1 0 0 1 0 0 0 17
33 Adam Erickson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 2 0 0 0 0 1 3
*40 Devean George 8-15 1-4 6-9 1-9--10 3 23 2 2 2 2 37
*43 Jason Beckendorf 5-9 0-2 2-2 1-5--6 5 12 2 1 0 0 33
45 Kyle Crubel 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-1--1 1 1 0 1 0 0 7
50 Drazen Kasaic 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1--1 1 2 0 2 0 0 3
*52 Kris Long 5-8 0-0 1-2 3-3--6 3 11 0 4 0 1 33
Team 0-1--1 0
Totals 23-45 4-15 20-26 6-23--29 18 70 9 16 3 7 200:00
Deadball Rebounds: 2
Field-goal shooting: First half--9-22 (40.9%), Second half--14-23 (60.9%), Total--23-45 (51.1%).
Three-point shooting: First half--2-9 (22.2%), Second half--2-6 (33.3%), Total--4-15 (26.7%).
Free-throw shooting: First half--5-7 (71.4%), Second half--15-19 (78.9%), Total--20-26 (76.9%).
St. Mary's University (68) FGs 3FGs FTs O-D--Reb PF Pts. Ast. Trn. Blk. Stl. MP
12 Brett Johnson 0-5 0-3 0-0 0-1--1 3 0 0 0 0 0 14
*22 Sam Pociask 1-5 1-3 1-2 1-2--3 3 4 2 4 0 2 27
*24 Jim Long 0-3 0-1 5-6 0-4--4 3 5 0 1 0 1 28
*30 Jason Boll 3-8 2-6 3-4 1-3--4 3 11 5 1 0 2 33
32 Tim Rowe 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-2--2 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
*33 John Oleksyn 2-5 2-3 5-6 2-1--3 2 11 2 2 0 1 32
42 Kevin Geist 2-3 1-1 2-2 0-3--3 0 7 3 0 0 1 19
44 Joe Bolduc 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
*54 Ryan Rankin 13-22 0-0 4-4 4-2--6 4 30 2 4 0 0 39
55 Eric Peterson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Team 2-1--3 0
Totals 21-52 6-17 20-24 10-19--29 20 68 14 13 0 7 200:00
Deadball Rebounds: 2
Field-goal shooting: First half--12-29 (41.4%), Second half--9-23 (39.1%), Total--21-52 (40.4%).
Three-point shooting: First half--3-9 (33.3%), Second half--3-8 (37.5%), Total--6-17 (35.3%).
Free-throw shooting: First half--4-6 (66.7%), Second half--16-18 (88.9%), Total--20-24 (83.3%).
