Men's Basketball 1/22/03 -- Gustavus 73, Augsburg 64 

BOXSCORE

ST. PETER, Minn. (1/22/03) -- The Gustavus Adolphus College men's basketball team got 19 points and 11 rebounds from senior post David Newell and slipped past Augsburg College 73-64 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest Wednesday night at Gus Young Court in St. Peter.

The Gusties held a slim one-point lead at halftime (34-33), and slowly built their lead to as many as 10 points in the second half before claiming the nine-point victory. Gustavus improves to 11-5 overall and 7-4 in the MIAC, while Augsburg falls to 6-10 overall and 3-8 in the MIAC.

Augsburg managed to stay close in the first half, due in large part to the fine play of junior guard Casey Zilka (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.), who scored the first 10 points for the Auggies.

Gustavus struggled from the field in the early going, but managed to stay in front due to good free throw shooting (7-of-11) and strong offensive rebounding. The Gusties led by as many as nine points at 22-13 with 10:43 remaining; however, a 14-7 run in the final nine minutes of the half allowed the Auggies to pull within a point at 34-33 at the intermission.

A layup by junior guard Rob Collins (Jr., Richfield, Minn.) to start the second half would give the Auggies their only lead in the final 20 minutes at 35-34. A layup by the David Newell would give Gustavus a 36-35 and they would not trail the rest of the game.

The Gusties slowly built their lead through the first 10 minutes of the second half and a three-point basket by Eric Nelson gave Gustavus its biggest lead of the game at 11 (65-54) with 5:20 remaining in regulation play. Augsburg did not get closer than six points the rest of the game.

Three Gustavus players scored in double digits, including Newell with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Tim Brown with 13 and Chris TeBrake with 10.

Augsburg was led by Jay Howard * (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) with 16 points and nine rebounds, Marcus Gholson (Jr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) with 15 points and five rebounds, and Zilka with 13 points.

Gustavus will play its next four games on the road, starting with a contest at Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday (1/25) afternoon at 3 p.m. The Auggies return home to Si Melby Hall on Saturday at 3 p.m. to face Carleton.