Men's Basketball 1/3/04 -- St. Thomas 64, Augsburg 54 

BOXSCORE

Neal Anderson (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored 18 points to lead four Tommies scoring in double figures Saturday and St. Thomas posted a 64-54 win over visiting Augsburg in MIAC men's basketball at Schoenecker Arena.

The Tommies (4-5 overall, 2-2 MIAC) shot 50% from the field (21-of-42) and sank 17-of-23 free throws. They trailed 33-31 at halftime but used a 9-0 run in the first 4:40 of the second half to take the lead for good.

Lucas Olson-Patterson (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Larry Burgess (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./North HS) scored 13 points for the Auggies (5-5, 2-3), who shot just 34% from the field and made 7-of-10 at the foul line.

For the Tommies, Joey Shimek (So., Prior Lake, Minn) had 11 points and 11 rebounds; Nick Schader (Sr., Shoreview, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) had 10 of his 14 points in the second half; and Danny Peterson (So., New Brighton, Minn./Irondale HS) had 12 points and nine rebounds in his first start.

Anderson sank three 3-pointers to fuel a 16-0 first-half run that built a 23-11 lead with 9:57 to go in the half. But the Auggies answered with an 11-0 run in just 90 seconds and the game was tight throughout.

Ausgburg pulled within 58-53 with 4:50 left but managerd just one point in the closing stretch while the Toms sank 6-of-8 at the foul line.

Augsburg returns to action this Monday, Jan. 5th at Bethel College in MIAC action. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.