Men's Basketball 1/17/05 -- Augsburg 84, St. John's 80 (OT) 

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/17/05) -- Lucas Olson-Patterson (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) led all scorers with 30 points and had a key steal with five seconds left in overtime to preserve the win, as Augsburg College claimed an 84-80 overtime triumph over St. John's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Monday night at Si Melby Hall.

Justin Kozlowski (Fr., Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman HS) hit a three-pointer from 30 feet away from the basket with four seconds remaining in regulation, as Augsburg rallied from a seven-point deficit in the final 55 seconds of the second half to force the extra session, tied at 73-73.

Five players scored in double figures for Augsburg, which improved to 7-7 overall, 5-4 in MIAC play.

Despite a double-double for Craig Schaefer (So., Anoka, Minn.) with 18 points and 13 rebounds, St. John's lost its third game in a row and sixth in its last eight to fall to 5-9 overall, 3-6 in MIAC play.

The game was an even one, with 15 lead changes and seven ties. Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, and Augsburg held a 34-32 advantage at the break.

A 9-4 run in the opening four minutes of the second half gave the Auggies their biggest lead of the game, 43-36 with 16:30 remaining in regulation. Augsburg led 47-41 with 13:22 left, but St. John's outscored the Auggies 22-2 over the next eight minutes to take a 63-49 lead with 5:48 left, the Johnnies' biggest advantage of the game.

St. John's got into foul trouble and forced Augsburg to the free-throw line, where the Auggies rallied back to eventually tie the game. Augsburg connected on 28-of-38 free-throw attempts in the game, while St. John's hit 17-of-24 from the line.

Trailing 70-63 with 55 seconds left, Augsburg's Olson-Patterson hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to cut the lead to four points. The Johnnies hit 1-of-2 from the line to lead by five, but Olson-Patterson hit a driving layup with 26 seconds left to trim the lead to three, 71-68.

Augsburg fouled with 23 seconds left, and the Johnnies then missed both free throws, with Charlie Scott (So., Ely, Minn.) pulling down the rebound to give the Auggies the ball. He missed a three-pointer, but Augsburg gained the rebound, and Dan Graf (So., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) was fouled and hit both free throws to cut the lead to one point, 71-70, with 14 seconds left.

St. John's Nicholas Pariseau (So., Grand Rapids, Minn.) was fouled right away and hit both free throws to put the Johnnies ahead by three, setting the stage for Kozlowski's long three-pointer to force overtime.

Augsburg outscored St. John's 11-7 in the extra session, hitting 7-of-10 from the free-throw line, with Kozlowski's two free throws with three seconds left clinching the win.

Olson-Patterson scored in double-figures for the 13th time this season and extended his double-figure scoring streak to 21 straight games, dating back to last year. Olson-Patterson has scored in double-figures in 33 of his 36 Augsburg games. It is the second 30-point game of Olson-Patterson's Auggie career. He added six rebounds and four steals in the contest, and hit 4-of-7 from beyond the three-point arc.

Graf had 13 points for the Auggies, while Scott, Kozlowski and Zac Rosen (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./West Lutheran HS) had 10 points apiece. Rosen had four rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Scott pulled down five rebounds.

In additoin to Schaefer's double-double for teh Johnnes, Matt Ohme (So., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) had 16 points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals. Paul Henrichs (Jr., Stetsonville, Wis./Medford HS) had 15 points and seven rebounds, Jon Kaus (Fr., North Mankato, Minn./Mankato East HS) added eignine points, four assists and two steals, and Pariseau had eight points and 10 rebounds.

St. John's hit 45.3 percent (29-of-64) from the field, including a 52.0-percent effort (13-of-25) in the second half. Augsburg was limited to just 35.5 percent (11-of-31) in the second half and 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field in the game. St. John's outrebounded Augsburg by a 47-36 margin, but committed 16 turnovers to Augsburg's 12. Augsburg converted 19 points off of turnovers, compared to 11 for St. John's.

Augsburg and St. John's return to action with home MIAC games on Wednesday (1/19) at 7:30 p.m., with Augsburg hosting Macalester and St. John's hosting Gustavus