Men's Basketball 12/1/04 -- Augsburg 86, St. Olaf 71

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (12/1/04) -- Lucas Olson-Patterson (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) claimed his eighth career double-double with 18 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, as Augsburg College led from start to finish in a convincing 86-71 men's basketball victory over visiting St. Olaf College on Wednesday night at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

It was the first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game for both teams. Augsburg is now 1-3 overall, while St. Olaf is now 3-1 overall.

Dan Graf (So., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) had 17 points and Jonathan Gholson (Jr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) had 14 points and four assists for the Auggies, who claimed their first win of the season after starting the campaign with three nonconference losses.

St. Olaf was paced by center Jon Bain (So., Austin, Minn.), who had 22 points and five rebounds, while Bobby Hunter (Fr., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) and Mark Bergstrom (So., Woodbury, Minn.) had 11 points each.

Augsburg jumped out to a 15-4 advantage in the first five minutes of play, keyed by six points by Graf and four by Olson-Patterson. But St. Olaf cut the lead to two points on an 11-2 run of its own to trail just 17-15 with 10:23 left in the first half. Later in the half, a quick 9-0 run over two minutes, with Graf connecting on seven straight points, put Augsburg ahead by 11 points, 34-23, with 3:32 left.

Augsburg led by 10 points at halftime, 43-33, and did not let the lead slip below double-digits the entire second half, stretching the advantage to as many as 20 points. Olson-Patterson had 11 points and eight rebounds in the second half.

Nine different Auggies scored, including eight points each from Kevin Keto (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) and Aaron Benesh (Jr., Oconto, Wis.), while Justin Olson (Fr., Lakeville, Minn.) had seven points and six rebounds, and Justin Koslowski (Fr., Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman HS) had six points and four assists.

St. Olaf received seven points apiece from Jon Butala (So., West St. Paul, Minn./Henry Sibley HS) and Pat Fraser (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS). Butala had nine rebounds and three assists. Andy Grimsrud (Sr., Zumbrota, Minn./Zumbrota-Mazeppa HS) had six points, five assists and four rebounds.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (12/4) at 3 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Mary's and St. Olaf playing at St. John's.