Men's Basketball 12/10/03 -- Augsburg 55, St. John's 44 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/10/03) -- Lucas Olson-Patterson (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) and Marcus "Rico" Gholson (Sr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) each had double-doubles for Augsburg College, as the Auggies dominated play in a 55-44 victory over St. John's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Olson-Patterson, a transfer from Iowa Lakes Community College, claimed his first Augsburg double-double, with 19 points and 16 rebounds, to go with two blocked shots. Meanwhile, Gholson claimed his second straight double-double and third of his Auggie career, with 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Augsburg is now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in MIAC play, winning its second game in a row. St. John's drops to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in MIAC play.

The story of the game was Augsburg's defense, which forced 25 St. John's turnovers and held the Johnnies to just 32.0 percent shooting from the field (16-of-50), including 15 percent (3-of-20) from beyond the arc. The Auggie defense also held the Johnnies' leading scorer, Paul Henrichs (So., Stetsonville, Wis.) 11 points below his scoring average, with just eight points, and held two starters -- Matt Ohme (Fr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) and Jesse Ellens (Fr., Sauk Centre, Minn.) -- scoreless. Ohme had averaged 15.0 points per game for the Johnnies coming into Wednesday's game.

Augsburg scored 21 points off of Johnnie turnovers, while the Johnnies could manage just 12 points off of Augsburg's 20 miscues.

The game was a close one in the first 13 minutes of play, but Augsburg used a 14-4 run over the last 7:29 of the first half to lead 27-17 at intermission. Olson-Patterson and Gholson both had nine points in the first half.

An 8-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half -- with Olson-Patterson scoring four points and pulling down two rebounds -- gave the Auggies their biggest lead, 35-19, with 16:02 left.

But St. John's rallied back, using a 15-4 run over the next 5:33 to cut the lead to five points, 39-34, with 10:29 remaining. Pat McKenzie (Sr., Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame HS) had six of his team-high 11 points in the 15-4 run.

The Johnnies could come no closer, however, as the Auggies pulled away again to lead by double-digits, eventually stretching the lead to 16 points in the final minute.

Casey Zilka (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) had eight points and four steals for the Auggies, while Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had seven points, three assists and three steals. Grant Hemmingsen (So., New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View HS) scored five points and had four rebounds.

McKenzie's 11 points led the Johnnies, adding three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Zach Reif (Fr., St. Cloud, Minn./Rocori HS) had 10 points and three rebounds, and Henrichs had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds to go with two steals. Andrew Spannem (So., Osseo, Minn./Maple Grove HS) had six points, two assists and two blocked shots.

Both teams are in nonconference action on Saturday (12/13), with Augsburg hosting North Central (Minn.) at 3 p.m. at Si Melby Hall and St. John's playing at Division II St. Cloud State at 7:30 p.m.