Men's Basketball 2/10/01 -- St. John's 88, Augsburg 74
STORY FROM ST. CLOUD TIMES NEWSPAPER, 2/11/01
Men's basketball: Make it 10 in a row for Johnnies
By Frank Rajkowski, Staff Writer
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (2/10/01) -- The St. John's University basketball team did not clinch the MIAC title with Saturday afternoon's 88-74 victory over Augsburg.
Rather, with three games to play in the regular season, the Johnnies are still only one game ahead of Gustavus and Bethel in the conference standings.
But Saturday's win over the fifth-place Auggies -- before a rowdy crowd that filled up around three-quarters of the 2,500 seats at Warner Palaestra's Sexton Arena --did give St. John's a big boost.
Two of the Johnnies final three games are against the bottom two teams in the conference -- at last-place Hamline on Monday and at 10th-place St. Mary's on Saturday. In the interim, they face sixth-place Concordia at home Thursday night.
"Our fate is in our own hands now," said junior post Mike Nester, who scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half to help St. John's withstand what was, at times, an intense Augsburg charge. "If we win out, we win the conference. We know we can't overlook anybody because even the teams that are out of the playoffs would love to knock us off. But it's ours to lose. We just have to go out and play hard every game."
St. John's has now won 10 straight games for the first time since the start of last season. The Auggies remain the last team to beat the Johnnies -- having recorded a 78-69 victory Jan. 13 in Minneapolis. The 10 straight conference wins is the second-longest streak in school history -- surpassed only by a 26-game MIAC winning streak that stretched from 1978-80.
"We needed this game in a big way," said St. John's senior guard Troy Bigalke, who had seven points in the first half and finished with a team-best 22. "We control our own destiny. Now we have to get ready for another big week. But it's exciting to know you're in control of what's going to happen."
Augsburg cut an eight-point Johnnies' halftime lead to just five early on in the second half before a Nester field goal broke the momentum. St. John's eventually pushed the margin back up to double figures, but the Auggies hung in the game.
They pulled within 10 on several occasions, but the Johnnies did not allow any prolonged runs. Time and time again down the stretch, junior point guard Ryan Keating managed to find Nester under the basket for the layup or, on one occasion, the alley-oop.
Keating finished the game with eight assists.
"Nester cuts really well, and when he cuts, Ryan finds him," said Johnnies coach Jim Smith, whose team is now 14-3 in the MIAC and 16-5 overall. "It's not an easy pass to make, but (Keating) does it well. Nester has such good hands that he'll make the shot."
St. John's thrived at three free throw line Saturday. In all, the Johnnies went to the line 36 times and made 27 of those shots. In the second half alone, St. John's went to the line 29 times and successfully hit 23 shots.
However, Bigalke, who entered the game with a streak of 27-straight successful free throw attempts, missed his first attempt of the game with 12:46 to play in the second half. Nevertheless, he finished 10-for-12 at the line.
"Foul shooting has been a big part of how well we've done lately," Bigalke said. "Guys have been stepping up and hitting them for us. I think we all feel pretty confident up there."
St. John's first took command of the game in the first half when they outscored the Auggies 21-5 over one stretch. Keating and sophomores Mark Nagle and Kevin Buth each had 3-pointers to spark the run. Buth scored seven of his 20 points in that timespan.
"We were getting up and down the floor well and that always helps," Buth said. "(Keating) pushed the ball really well, and if we stay inside our offense, no one can stop us."
Certainly, Augsburg wasn't able to Saturday.
"We cut their lead to within six or eight numerous times, but every time we did, they came back," Auggies coach Brian Ammann said. "That's what good teams do. You have to give them a lot of credit."
Nester said his team wanted to beat Augsburg to avenge the loss earlier in the season. The fact that the task was successfully accomplished can only lift confidence levels higher.
"This was a big win," Nester said. "These guys were the last team to beat us and we wanted a little revenge. But to do it, we had to play really aggressively. They have some great players on that team and I tip my hat to them. But we came out and played hard and that was enough."
Augsburg College vs St. John's University (02/10/01 at Warner Palaestra, Collegeville, Minn.)
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Augsburg College vs St. John's University
02/10/01 3 p.m. at Warner Palaestra, Collegeville, Minn.
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VISITORS: Augsburg College 12-9, 11-6 MIAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
24 Josh Natzel......... * 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 4 2 2 2 0 2 25
31 Nathan Hoerr........ * 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 5 2 1 2 1 0 21
32 Tommy Chatman....... * 9-14 1-3 4-5 0 3 3 4 23 3 3 0 1 37
33 Travis Hinze........ * 3-6 0-2 6-9 2 2 4 2 12 3 4 0 1 38
52 Josh Moberg......... * 6-7 0-0 6-7 2 1 3 4 18 0 1 1 0 19
03 Chris York.......... 1-4 1-3 2-2 0 1 1 3 5 1 1 0 0 14
34 Jay Howard.......... 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 4 5 1 2 1 1 0 3 24
35 Jeff Willihnganz.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 4
40 Trevor Overskei..... 4-7 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 2 10 1 0 0 0 12
43 Nick Ivory.......... 0-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 6
TEAM................
Totals.............. 26-50 4-15 18-24 6 17 23 25 74 12 18 2 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 52.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-10 30.0% Game: 26.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 15-20 75.0% Game: 75.0% 3
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HOME TEAM: St. John's University 16-5, 14-3 MIAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Ryan Keating........ * 1-3 1-2 2-2 0 1 1 3 5 8 2 0 1 34
22 Luke Witt........... * 2-9 1-6 4-5 0 3 3 2 9 2 2 0 1 27
33 Mike Nester......... * 9-10 0-0 2-7 2 4 6 4 20 2 3 2 0 32
44 Troy Bigalke........ * 5-8 2-5 10-12 1 4 5 4 22 5 4 0 3 35
50 Shawn McGuire....... * 2-3 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 4 6 0 0 1 1 10
01 Patrick McKenzie.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 3 0 0 2 6
04 Kevin Buth.......... 6-9 1-2 7-8 0 1 1 0 20 0 0 0 0 22
20 Dusty Lamker........ 0-3 0-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 5
40 Ryan Dusha.......... 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 17
41 Mark Nagle.......... 2-4 2-3 0-0 1 3 4 3 6 0 0 0 0 12
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 27-51 7-20 27-36 11 21 32 23 88 20 13 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 13-26 50.0% Game: 52.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 35.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 21-27 77.8% Game: 75.0% 5
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Officials:
Technical fouls: Augsburg College-None. St. John's University-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Augsburg College.............. 30 44 - 74
St. John's University......... 38 50 - 88
Newspaper Box Score
Newspaper Box Score
Augsburg College vs St. John's University
02/10/01 3 p.m. at Warner Palaestra, Collegeville, Minn.
At Warner Palaestra, Collegeville, Minn.
ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY 88, AUGSBURG COLLEGE 74
AUGSBURG COLLEGE (12-9, 11-6 MIAC)
Tommy Chatman 9-14 4-5 23; Josh Moberg 6-7 6-7 18; Travis Hinze 3-6 6-9 12;
Trevor Overskei 4-7 0-0 10; Chris York 1-4 2-2 5; Nathan Hoerr 1-4 0-0 2;
Jay Howard 1-3 0-1 2; Josh Natzel 1-2 0-0 2; Nick Ivory 0-2 0-0 0; Jeff
Willihnganz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50 18-24 74.
ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY (16-5, 14-3 MIAC)
Troy Bigalke 5-8 10-12 22; Kevin Buth 6-9 7-8 20; Mike Nester 9-10 2-7 20;
Luke Witt 2-9 4-5 9; Shawn McGuire 2-3 2-2 6; Mark Nagle 2-4 0-0 6; Ryan
Keating 1-3 2-2 5; Dusty Lamker 0-3 0-0 0; Ryan Dusha 0-2 0-0 0. Totals
27-51 27-36 88.
Augsburg College.............. 30 44 - 74
St. John's University......... 38 50 - 88
3-point goals-Augsburg College 4-15 (Trevor Overskei 2-5; Chris York
1-3; Tommy Chatman 1-3; Josh Natzel 0-1; Jeff Willihnganz 0-1; Travis Hinze
0-2), St. John's University 7-20 (Troy Bigalke 2-5; Mark Nagle 2-3; Kevin
Buth 1-2; Luke Witt 1-6; Ryan Keating 1-2; Dusty Lamker 0-2). Fouled
out--Augsburg College-Nathan Hoerr, St. John's University-None.
Rebounds-Augsburg College 23 (Nathan Hoerr 5; Jay Howard 5), St.
John's University 32 (Mike Nester 6). Assists-Augsburg College 12
(Travis Hinze 3; Tommy Chatman 3), St. John's University 20 (Ryan Keating
8). Total fouls-Augsburg College 25, St. John's University 23.
