Men's Basketball 1/14/04 -- Augsburg 59, St. Mary's 58

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/14/04) -- Lucas Olson-Patterson (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) claimed his fourth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds, as Augsburg College rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to score a 59-58 victory over St. Mary's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game on Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

Zac Rosen (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS) added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Auggies, who broke a five-game losing streak to improve to 6-8 overall, 3-6 in MIAC play. St. Mary's drops to 2-11 overall and 1-8 in MIAC play, losing its second straight contest.

The game was a close one throughout, with 13 lead changes and six ties. Neither team held more than a five-point advantage in the first half, with the Cardinals leading 32-29 at the break.

However, the Cardinals pulled away in the second half, leading by seven points with 14 minutes remaining and by their largest margin, 50-40, with 10:15 remaining in the game.

A 13-0 run over the next five minutes gave the Auggies the lead back. Rosen scored nine points in the rally, including a three-pointer, and Augsburg led 53-50 with 5:16 left to play.

St. Mary's rallied back to tie the game again at 53-53 on free throws with four minutes left, but Josh Klem (Jr., Maplewood, Minn./North St. Paul HS) hit a three-pointer to give the Auggies the lead again with 2:39 left. Terrence Smith (So., Broadview, Ill./St. Joseph HS) connected for the Cardinals to cut the lead to one points, and a free throw and consecutive buckets tied the game twice more.

Augsburg's Olson-Patterson was fouled with 47 seconds left and converted 1-of-2 free throws to give the Auggies a 59-58 lead. St. Mary's missed a jumper, got a rebound and turned the ball over, with Rosen picking up a key steal for the Auggies with 14 seconds left. But the Auggies missed both free throws on the subsequent Cardinal foul, and the Cardinals had one more chance to win the game in the closing seconds. But a jumper at the buzzer fell short, and the Auggies claimed victory.

St. Mary's was led by Jeff Tendall (Jr., LeClaire, Iowa/Pleasant Valley HS), who scored 14 points and had nine rebounds. Michael Batteman (Fr., Fond du Lac, Wis./Lomira HS) had 12 points and Smith had 10 points, five steals and four rebounds. Jimmy Wajda (Fr., Minneapolis, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) had eight rebounds for the Cardinals.

Klem had six points for the Auggies, and Marcus "Rico" Gholson (Sr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) had six assists. Kevin Keto (Fr., Forest Lake, Minn.), starting his second straight game at point guard, had five assists and five points.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday (1/17). Augsburg hosts Concordia-Moorhead at 3 p.m. in the second game of a women's/men's doubleheader (women's game at 1 p.m.), while St. Mary's plays at Wisconsin-Eau Claire in nonconference action at 7:30 p.m.