Men's Basketball 12/13/03 -- Augsburg 98, North Central (Minn.) 67 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/13/03) -- Lucas Olson-Patterson (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) scored 23 points, hitting 8-of-9 from the field, as his Augsburg College men's basketball team dominated from start to finish in a 98-67 victory over North Central University (Minn.) in a nonconference game Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg outscored North Central 21-2 in the first 7:47 of play, building an advantage that would not dip below 16 points the rest of the way. Augsburg's 31-point advantage at the end was its biggest lead of the game, and its 98 points was the most scored by an Auggie team in a single game in its last 28 contests, dating back to a 144-114 loss to Grinnell (Iowa) on Nov. 29, 2002 and a 97-84 win over Peru State (Neb.) on Nov. 30, 2002.

Augsburg has won its last three games in a row to improve to 5-3 overall, while North Central, a National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) school from downtown Minneapolis, fell to 2-6. It was the Rams' third game in three days; the Rams went 1-2 in that span.

The 23 points for Olson-Patterson, a transfer from Iowa Lakes Community College, is a single-game high for him in an Augsburg uniform and the sixth time in his eight Augsburg games that he has scored in double figures.

North Central was led by Tim Strandquist (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.), who led all scorers with 27 points and seven rebounds.

All five Augsburg starters and one reserve scored in double figures, and nine of the 10 Augsburg players who saw game action scored.

North Central's 2-0 lead in the first minute was its only advantage of the game. After that, Augsburg ran off 21 straight points and led 46-26 at halftime. With Auggie reserves in the game in the second half, the Rams cut the lead under 20 points midway through the second half. But with the starters back in, the lead stretched back to 20-plus points.

Augsburg dominated every aspect of the game, hitting 52.1 percent from the field (37-of-71), including seven 3-pointers -- two each from forwards Casey Zilka (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Zac Rosen (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS).

Augsburg outrebounded North Central by a 43-27 margin, and scored 32 points off of 21 Ram turnovers. Augsburg committed just 12 miscues, with North Central managing just six points off them. Augsburg had 50 points in the paint compared to 38 for North Central, and Augsburg scored 23 points on fast breaks, compared to just eight for North Central.

Larry Burgess (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./North HS), a transfer from Concordia-St. Paul, scored 13 points and pulled down seven rebounds, to go with four assists and a steal. It was Burgess' first start as an Auggie; shooting guard Marcus "Rico" Gholson (Sr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) was sidelined due to an illness.

Grant Hemmingsen (So., New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View HS) had 12 points, three rebounds and four steals for the Auggies, while Rosen had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Zilka and Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored 10 points apiece, with Zilka adding three rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Slowon adding seven assists and four rebounds. Josh Klem (Jr., Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul HS) scored nine points.

Matt Zachery (Jr., Rockford, Ill.) had 13 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for North Central, which has just eight players on its basketball roster. Levi Myers (Fr., Fennville, Mich.) had 10 points and four asists, while Paul Timms (So., Sioux Falls, S.D.) had eight points and three assists, and Brandon Liebe (Jr., Waupaca, Wis.) had seven points, three assists and four steals.

Augsburg returns to action during the holiday break with a nonconference game at Augustana (Sioux Falls, S.D.) on Tuesday, Dec. 30 at 8 p.m. North Central plays in the CHS Cooperatives Tournament at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Dec. 29-30.