Men's Basketball 1/11/03 -- Augsburg 70, St. Olaf 60 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/11/03) -- Jay Howard * (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) scored 21 points, pulled down six rebounds and had two blocked shots to lead four Augsburg College starters in double figures, as the Auggies claimed a 70-60 win over St. Olaf College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Howard scored 16 points in the second half, leading an Augsburg charge to overcome a 34-30 halftime deficit and score the Auggies' second straight win, improving to 5-8 overall, 2-6 in MIAC play.

St. Olaf lost its third game in a row and fourth in its last six to fall to 7-5 overall and 3-4 in MIAC play.

The Oles led for most of the first half, leading by as many as nine points. Justin Bonestroo (Sr., Stillwater, Minn.) had 11 of his game-high 22 points in the first half. Bonestroo claimed a double-double Saturday, pulling down 10 rebounds.

But Augsburg outscored St. Olaf by a 19-4 margin in the first nine minutes of the second half to take a 49-38 lead, with Howard contributing eight points in the run.

The Oles used a used an 11-2 run to cut the Auggie advantage to just one point, 54-53, with 6:54 left, but Augsburg pulled away again, outscoring St. Olaf 12-2 over the next three minutes to take a 66-55 advantage with 3:14 remaining. Howard had seven points in the final Auggie run.

Four of Augsburg's five starters scored in double figures. Guard Marcus Gholson (Jr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) continued his impressive week, scoring in double figures for the fourth game in a row (team-high 10th time this season) with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Yarzue Slowon (So., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored 15 points and had five assists, and Casey Zilka (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) adding 10 points and six rebounds.

Mike Ludwig (Sr., Blaine, Minn.) had 12 points for St. Olaf, while Tim Nelson (Sr., Braham, Minn.) added 10 points and six rebounds. Matt Schlenker (Jr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo HS) nearly had a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, adding three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Augsburg outrebounded St. Olaf 46-40 and hit eight 3-pointers, two each by Howard, Zilka, Slowon and Gholson.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Wednesday (1/15) at 7:30 p.m. Augsburg plays at St. Mary's and St. Olaf hosts Macalester.