MINNEAPOLIS -- Gustavus Adolphus College limited host Augsburg College to just five points over the last 7:29 of the game Saturday night, as the Gusties rallied with nine points over the same stretch, leading to a 66-64 victory in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoff championship game before a sellout crowd of 3,000 at Si Melby Hall.
Gustavus, which finished second to Augsburg in the race for the MIAC regular-season championship, improves to 21-5 overall with its 11th straight win, and receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III national playoffs. The Gusties made their fourth straight appearance in the MIAC's playoff title game and claimed their third straight title -- each game decided by four points or less. Augsburg, which won the MIAC regular-season title for the second year in a row, drops to 23-3 overall, breaking a 19-game winning streak.
Augsburg is expected to also be selected for the 48-team national tournament. Entering the game, Augsburg was rated No. 2 in the six-team Division III West Region and No. 7 in the NABC's national poll, while Gustavus was in a fourth-place tie in the regional poll with Nebraska Wesleyan. National playoff bids will be announced on Sunday (2/28) at 8 p.m. Central time (check Augsburg's men's basketball site for the tournament bids shortly after they are announced). The top two teams in the six-team West Region in the final rankings will receive first-round playoff byes and host games on Saturday, March 6. The No. 3 and No. 4 teams will host games Thursday, March 4.
The win was Gustavus' second in three tries against the Auggies this season -- with the visiting team winning each game. Gustavus won at Augsburg 80-69 on Dec. 9 (Augsburg's last loss prior to Saturday night), while the Gusties' last loss came in a home defeat by Augsburg, 57-56 on Jan. 27.
The Gusties' defense held Augsburg's All-America forward,
Devean George (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret HS), to just five points in the second half and a total of 25 in the game. He added 11 rebounds for his 11th straight double-double (35th of his career). George now has 2,219 career points and 850 career rebounds, both second in school history. George is 52 points away from the school's scoring record, set by current coach Brian Ammann (2,271 points) when he played at Augsburg from 1981-85. It was also the 90th time in his 94-game career that George scored in double figures (83 of his last 84 games), and the 62nd time he has scored 20 points or more in his career.
Luke Schmidt (Sr., New Ulm, Minn.) scored six of his 14 points over the last 8:13 of the game, helping to rally the Gusties from a 57-50 deficit to the final margin of victory. The seven-point Augsburg lead, coming with 9:47 remaining in the second half, was the largest lead either team enjoyed in the game.
Down 65-62 in the last two mintues of play, George scored a putback basket to cut the lead to one, 65-64, with 1:20 remaining. Augsburg's
Kris Long (Sr., Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS) blocked a shot on Gustavus' next possession and pulled down the rebound with under 40 seconds to play, but the Auggies could not convert on several opportunities to score the potential game-winning basket in the final seconds. A turnover by Augsburg and a steal by Gustavus' Mark McDonnell (Sr., Minnesota Lake, Minn./Maple River HS)with five seconds remaining gave the Gusties the ball. A free throw by Bob Southworth (Sr., Gibbon, Minn./Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop HS) put the finishing touches on the game.
Southworth led the Gusties with 17 points and seven rebounds. Schmidt also had seven rebounds for the Gusties' team high. Kirk Walberg (Fr., Annandale, Minn.) had 12 points and five rebounds, and McDonnell had nine points and three steals.
Jeoffrey Reed (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./De La Salle HS) had 12 points, four assists and four steals for the Auggies, while
Jason Beckendorf (Jr., Lakeville, Minn.) had nine points, four rebounds and four steals. Long had six points and nine rebounds.
MIAC Playoff Championship Game
Gustavus 66, Augsburg 64
Feb. 27, 1999 at Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
Attendance: 3,000.
Technical Fouls: None.
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Gustavus Adolphus (21-5 overall) 40 26 66
Augsburg College (23-2 overall) 37 27 64
Gustavus Adolphus (66) FGs 3FGs FTs O-D--Reb PF Pts. Ast. Trn. Blk. Stl. MP
*20 Bob Southworth 7-14 1-1 2-3 2-5--7 1 17 3 5 0 1 31:51
21 Mike Kauls 1-3 0-2 0-0 0-2--2 0 2 0 0 0 0 10:44
*30 Mark McDonnell 3-7 1-4 2-2 0-1--1 3 9 0 1 2 3 34:14
*32 Joel Stoltenow 1-3 0-1 0-0 1-2--3 1 2 4 2 0 1 22:10
33 Brent Olson 1-2 0-1 0-0 0-1--1 2 2 3 2 0 0 17:50
34 Kirk Walberg 4-9 2-4 2-2 1-4--5 0 12 3 1 0 1 26:21
43 Hans Engebretson 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1--2 0 2 0 0 0 0 4:40
*50 Marc Newell 3-7 0-0 0-0 0-5--5 3 6 4 2 0 1 26:29
*54 Luke Schmidt 7-13 0-0 0-0 4-3--7 2 14 2 3 1 0 25:41
Team 1-2--3 0
Totals 28-59 4-13 6-7 10-26--36 12 66 19 16 3 7 200:00
Deadball Rebounds: 0
Field-goal shooting: First half--17-33 (51.5%), Second half--11-26 (42.3%), Total--28-59 (47.5%)
Three-point shooting: First half--3-6 (50.0%), Second half--1-7 (14.3%), Total--4-13 (30.8%)
Free-throw shooting: First half--3-3 (100.0%), Second half--3-4 (75.0%), Total--6-7 (85.7%)
Augsburg College (64) FGs 3FGs FTs O-D--Reb PF Pts. Ast. Trn. Blk. Stl. MP
*3 Jeoffrey Reed 5-10 2-4 0-0 0-2--2 1 12 4 4 0 4 35:40
*22 Kevin Van Rossum 2-7 2-6 1-2 0-1--1 1 7 3 0 0 1 34:08
24 Josh Natzel 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4:20
31 Eric Herried 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-1--1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4:59
32 John Anderson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0--0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5:53
*40 Devean George 10-29 0-6 5-7 5-6--11 0 25 2 2 0 1 34:19
*43 Jason Beckendorf 4-6 0-0 1-2 0-4--4 3 9 1 3 0 4 33:50
45 Kyle Crubel 1-3 0-0 0-0 1-1--2 0 2 0 0 0 0 6:51
50 Drazen Kasaic 1-3 0-0 1-2 0-1--1 2 3 0 0 0 2 13:32
*52 Kris Long 3-7 0-0 0-0 4-5--9 2 6 0 0 2 0 26:28
Team 4-1--5 0
Totals 26-66 4-17 8-13 14-22--36 10 64 10 9 2 12 200:00
Deadball Rebounds: 5
Field-goal shooting: First half--15-39 (38.5%), Second half--11-27 (40.7%), Total--26-66 (39.4%)
Three-point shooting: First half--2-11 (18.2%), Second half--2-6 (33.3%), Total--4-17 (23.5%)
Free-throw shooting: First half--5-7 (71.4%), Second half--3-6 (50.0%), Total--8-13 (61.5%)
