Men's Basketball 2/1/03 -- Augsburg 60, St. John's 59 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/1/03) -- Point guard Yarzue Slowon (So., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had his first collegiate double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists and five steals to lead Augsburg College to a 60-59 win over St. John's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball contest Saturday afternoon at Si Melby Hall.

Augsburg's defense held St. John's to just one point in the last 10:46 of play, rallying from a seven-point deficit to claim the victory in a game that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties.

Augsburg is now 9-10 overall and 6-8 in MIAC play, winning its third straight game and sixth in its last eight. St. John's dropped its fourth game in its last five starts to fall to 8-11 overall, 7-7 in MIAC play.

After shooting 50 percent from the field (14-of-28) in the first half, St. John's was limited to just 25 percent (8-for-32) in the second half. The Johnnies went 5-for-20 from three-point range, including 1-of-11 in the second half.

Augsburg hit just 39.1 percent from the free-throw line (9-of-23) in the game and was outrebounded by a 50-35 margin. However, the Auggies had nine blocked shots -- four by Jay Howard * (Sr., Burnsville, Minn.), three by Rob Collins (Jr., Richfield, Minn.) -- and forced 13 steals, converting 13 points off of the Johnnies' 19 turnovers.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, with St. John's holding a 41-37 halftime advantage. There were nine lead changes and four ties in the first half.

After a three-pointer by Kevin Buth (Sr., Edina, Minn.) gave the Johnnies a 58-51 lead with 10:46 left in the second half, the Johnnies missed their last 18 field-goal attempts, including seven 3-point tries. The Johnnies scored just one free throw by Paul Heinrichs (Fr., Stetsonville, Wis.), coming with six seconds remaining. St. John's also committed seven of its 19 turnovers in the same span.

Slowon's driving layup with 1:06 left gave the Auggies their first lead in a 17-minute span, 60-58. On the next possession, a St. John's shot was blocked by Collins, with Slowon getting the rebound. But after being fouled, he missed a free-throw shot, and after teammate Howard got an offensive rebound on the miss, Collins was fouled but missed two free throws.

Heinrichs was fouled with six seconds left and made the first free throw, but he missed the second and Collins scored the rebound. He was fouled and again missed both free-throw shots, but the Johnnies could not get a final shot off in the last four seconds of play.

Casey Zilka (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) hit four 3-pointers and led the Auggies with a season-high 19 points -- scoring 15 points in the first half. Howard had 15 points for the Auggies. Collins and Marcus Gholson (Jr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) had six points apiece.

Buth, the conference's leading scorer (23.5 points per game in league games), was limited to 16 points for the Johnnies, hitting just 2-for-11 from three-point range.

Andrew Sherburne (Sr., Golden Valley, Minn./Benilde St. Margaret HS) had seven points and 18 rebounds for St. John's, the most rebounds in a single game among all MIAC teams in conference games this season. Pat McKenzie (Jr., Green Bay, Wis./Notre Dame HS) had nine points, six assists and four steals, and Shaun McGuire (Sr., Monticello, Minn.) had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Both teams return to MIAC action on Monday (2/3) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Thomas and St. John's hosting St. Mary's.