Men's Basketball 1/30/02 -- Augsburg 59, St. Mary's 54 

BOXSCORE

WINONA, Minn. (1/30/02) -- Michael Leach (Fr., Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) scored 11 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, as Augsburg College rallied for a 59-54 win over host St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at the SMU Gym.

Augsburg used a 16-3 run over a nine-minute span of the second half to rally from an eight-point deficit and take a 51-46 lead with 4:55 remaining. Travis Kalis (So., Elysian, Minn./Waterville-Elysian-Morristown HS) had seven of his 12 points in the Auggie run.

Augsburg evened its record at 10-10 overall and 6-9 in MIAC play with the win. Augsburg has won four of its last six games. St. Mary's drops to 4-15 overall and 4-11 in MIAC play.

Leading 30-28 at halftime, St. Mary's scored the first eight points of the second half to expand its lead before the Auggies made their game-changing run.

Leach had five rebounds for the Auggies, as did Kalis. Shawn Johnson (Fr., Faribault, Minn.) added 10 points and three steals, and Adam Kotewa (Jr., Mankato, Minn./West HS) had seven points, four rebounds and two steals. Augsburg was playing wtihout the services of its top inside player, Jay Howard (So., Burnsville, Minn.), who injured his ankle in Augsburg's loss to Macalester on Monday night.

St. Mary's was paced by Ryan Wilt (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Aurora Christian HS), who nearly had a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds. Adam Kraemer (Jr., Oshkosh, Wis./Lourdes HS) and Brett Johnson (Sr., Onalaska, Wis.) added 12 points each, with Kraemer adding four rebounds. Todd Yankowski (So., Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick HS) had six rebounds and two blocked shots.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (2/2) at 3 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Thomas and St. Mary's hosting Bethel.