Men's Basketball 2/14/05 -- Gustavus Adolphus 75, Augsburg 62

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/14/05) -- Doug Espenson (Sr., Mankato, Minn./East HS) scored 23 points with seven rebounds and four assists, one of four Gustavus Adolphus College players to score in double figures, as the Gusties won their 14th game in a row with a 75-62 triumph over host Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Monday night at Si Melby Hall.

Adam TeBrake (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) added 15 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots, Andrew Olson (So., Owatonna, Minn.) had 13 points and John Wippler (Jr., Vadnais Heights, Minn./White Bear Lake HS) had 10 points for the Gusties.

Playing in his final home game at Si Melby Hall, Lucas Olson-Patterson (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) scored a career-high 33 points with five rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Auggies, who dropped to 8-15 overall, 6-12 in MIAC play. Augsburg has lost 11 of its last 14 games and was eliminated from contention for the six-team MIAC playoffs with the loss.

With the win, Gustavus improved to 18-5 overall and 16-2 in MIAC play, clinching a first-round bye and a semifinal home game in the six-team MIAC playoffs. Gustavus has two league games remaining in the regular season, while St. Thomas (16-7 overall, 16-3 MIAC), the other challenger for the MIAC regular-season title, has one game left.

An 11-2 run over a 2:38 span early in the second half enabled Gustavus to pull away from the Auggies, taking its first double-digit lead at 47-36 with 15:28 remaining. Augsburg was unable to cut the lead under six points the rest of the way. Gustavus outscored Augsburg 43-34 in the second half and outrebounded the Auggies by a 33-23 margin in the game.

Both teams shot the ball well from the field -- Augsburg hit 50 percent of its field-goal attempts (28-of-56) while Gustavus hit 51.9 percent (27-of-52) -- but the difference in the game came in free-throw shooting, particularly in the second half. Augsburg was whistled for 11 second-half fouls, compared to four for Gustavus, and the Gusties hit 13-of-14 at the free-throw line in the second half, 15-of-16 in the game. Meanwhile, Augsburg struggled in its few opportunities at the charity stripe, hitting just 2-of-7 in the game, 2-of-5 in the second half.

Phil Sowden (So., Brooklyn Park, Minn./Park Center HS) had six points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Gustavus.

Kevin Keto (So., Forest Lake, Minn.) had 10 points and seven assists for the Auggies. Zeph Jones (Jr., Flint, Mich./Flint Central HS) had six points. No other Auggie scored more than four points in the game.

Augsburg closes its season with two games on the road -- at St. John's on Wednesday (2/16) at 7:30 p.m. and at Macalester on Saturday (2/19) at 3 p.m. Gustavus travels to Macalester on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and closes the regular season hosting St. John's on Saturday at 3 p.m.