Men's Basketball 11/22/02 -- Augsburg 68, Crown (Minn.) 62 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (11/22/02) -- Yarzue Slowon (So., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored 12 points and had five assists, one of five Augsburg College players to score in double figures, as the Auggies claimed a 68-62 win over Crown College (Minn.) in a nonconference men's basketball game Friday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

It was Augsburg's first game of the season, while Crown, an NAIA school, was in its sixth game of the year and fell to 2-4 overall.

Crown jumped out to a 12-3 lead in the first five minutes of play, but the Auggies scored the next 11 points to take a 14-12 lead halfway through the first half. Augsburg pulled ahead to a nine-point advantage, 25-16, but the Storm used a 12-0 run to take a 25-28 lead with 2:12 remaining in the half. Augsburg led 34-30 at halftime.

Augsburg pulled ahead by 10 points early in the second half, but the Storm cut into the lead again, eventually cutting it to a one-point advantage, 46-45 with 9:59 remaining in the game. A quick 8-0 run, keyed by two three-pointers from Adam Kotewa (Sr., North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West HS), gave the Auggies a 54-45 edge with 8:40 left, and the Storm could not cut the lead below four points the rest of the way.

Twelve Auggies saw game action and eight scored. Kotewa had 11 points, while Nate Kerkhoff (Sr., Waconia, Minn.), Marcus Gholson (Jr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) and Nick Peters * (Sr., St. Peter, Minn./Nicollet HS) had 10 points each. Kerkhoff added seven rebounds, while Peters had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

Rob Collins (Jr., Richefield, Minn.) had six points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while Jay Howard * (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) had four points, five rebounds and two blocks.

Crown was paced by Jason McWilliams (So., Oronoco, Minn.), who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Jordan Fleck (Jr., Elizabethtown, Pa.) had 15 points and six steals, former Augsburg player Noah Shadis (So., Grantsburg, Wis.) had 10 points and six rebounds, and Eric Syverson (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa) had eight points and four rebounds.

Augsburg returns to action on Tuesday (11/26) as part of a basketball doubleheader at St. Scholastica (Minn.). The women's teams play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m. Crown has two more games this weekend against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents in the next three days. On Saturday (11/23), the Storm hosts Carleton at 8 p.m., and on Monday (11/25), the Crown host Hamline at 7:30 p.m.