Men's Basketball 1/29/03 -- Augsburg 79, Macalester 69 

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/29/03) -- Yarzue Slowon (So., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had a season-high 30 points, six assists and six steals, and teammate Jay Howard * (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.) added 26 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, leading Augsburg College past Macalester College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on Wednesday night at Macalester Gymnasium.

Slowon and Howard combined to go 19-for-33 from the field and 15-for-17 from the foul line, as the Auggies improved to 8-10 overall and 5-8 in MIAC play. After a seven-game losing streak that sent the Auggies to 3-8 overall, Augsburg has won five of its last seven games to move back into contention for a MIAC postseason playoff berth.

Macalester drops to 8-9 overall and 6-6 in MIAC play, dropping its second straight game.

The Auggies shot 53 percent (28-for-53) from the field and 81 percent (17-for-21) from the foul line in the game, and committed just one turnover in the second half.

Slowon, in his first year at Augsburg, had personal career highs for both points (30) and steals (6), and his six assists marked the 11th time in 18 games this season that he has had at least five assists. Slowon went 11-for-12 from the free-throw line in the game.

Meanwhile, Howard hit 10-for-16 from the field and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. He added a game-high three blocked shots. Howard scored in double figures for the 14th time this season, and scored 20-plus points for the fifth time and second game in a row. It also marked his 10th game with at least six rebounds. Howard leads the Auggies in both scoring (15.8 points per game) and rebounding (6.3 rebounds per game).

Ben Van Thorre (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) had 27 points, nine rebounds and four assists to pace Macalester, while Erik Jackson (So., Evergreen, Colo.) added 18 points and five assists. Patrick Russell (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) had 10 points, three assists and two steals. Adam Denny (So., Preston, Minn./Fillmore Central HS) had eight points and nine rebounds.

Augsburg jumped to a 9-2 lead, before a 16-4 Macalester run gave the Scots a 18-13 lead at the 8:54 mark of the first half. The Auggies regained momentum and took the lead for good at 34-31 with 1:06 left in the first half.Â

Augsburg led 36-34 at the intermission and never gave up the lead in the second half, building the advanage to as many as 13 points down the stretch.

Rob Collins (Jr., Richfield, Minn.) had six points and nine rebounds for the Auggies.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Saturday (2/1) at 3 p.m., Augsburg hosting St. John's at Si Melby Hall and Macalester playing at Concordia-Moorhead.