Men's Basketball 12/12/01 -- St. Thomas 62, Augsburg 49 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/12/01) -- Mark Buri (Sr., St. Paul, Minn./Trinity HS) scored 17 points and had five steals and three assists, as his University of St. Thomas men's basketball team led from start to finish in a 62-49 victory over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Wednesday evening at Si Melby Hall.

The Tommies, now 6-2 overall and 3-1 in MIAC play, jumped out to an 11-4 start over the first seven minutes of the game, and built the lead to as many as as 17 points in the first half. The Auggies cut the lead to 11 points, 35-24 at halftime, but the Tommies controlled the tempo and flow of the contest, never letting the lead dip below nine points in the second half.

Augsburg drops to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the MIAC.

Buri was one of four Tommies to score in double figures, as the Tommies played with just a seven-player rotation for most of the game. Three Tommies played all 40 minutes -- Buri, Brendan Finn (Jr., Deephaven, Minn./Minnetonka HS), who had 14 points and four rebounds, and Kevin Fitzgerald (Jr., Centerville, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS), who had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Augsburg was forced into a halfcourt game by St. Thomas, and it showed as the Auggies shot just 33.9 percent (21-of-62) from the field, just 5-of-22 (22.7 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. Meanwhile, St. Thomas hit 10 three-pointers -- four from Finn and three each from Buri and Jimmy Sioris (Jr., Edina, Minn.), who had 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Mark Paulson (Jr., Coon Rapids, Minn.) had four blocked shots for the Tommies. The Tommies shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field and 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from beyond the arc.

Augsburg was led by Jay Howard (So., Burnsville, Minn.), who collected his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Adam Kotewa (Jr., Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS) and Nick Peters (Jr., St. Peter, Minn./Nicollet HS) scored 11 points apiece, Peters hitting three 3-pointers and adding four assists, Kotewa adding three steals.

St. Thomas' defense limited Augsburg's playmaking point guard, Dwayne Starr (So., Richfield, Minn.), to just two points, well off his 14 points-per-game average entering Wednesday night's game. Starr collected five rebounds and had four assists.

Both teams return to action with home nonconference games on Saturday (12/15) at 3 p.m., Augsburg hosting Northwestern College of Iowa and St. Thomas hosting Loras College of Iowa.