Men's Basketball 2/15/06 -- St. John's 72, Augsburg 48

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/15/06) -- Craig Schafer (Jr., Anoka, Minn.) claimed a double-double, scoring 12 points with 10 rebounds, as St. John's University pulled away from Augsburg College en route to a 72-48 victory in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

Fourteen players saw game action and 12 scored for the Johnnies, who won their sixth game in a row and 10th in their last 13 starts to improve to 15-9 overall, 13-6 in MIAC play. Scott Schafer (Jr., Anoka, Minn.) and Tyler Westman (Jr., Mankato, Minn./Loyola HS) had 10 points apiece for the Johnnies.

Dan Graf (Jr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and four steals for Augsburg, now 3-21 overall, 2-17 in MIAC play. Augsburg has lost its last 14 games in a row.

Augsburg jumped out to an early five-point lead in the first four minutes of play and led 17-15 with 9:07 left in the first half. However, the Auggies were then held scoreless for the next 10:36 -- missing 15 straight field-goal attempts and two free throws -- as St. John's built a double-digit lead that it would not relinquish.

The Johnnies led 30-17 at halftime and 32-17 on the first basket of the second half, before Augsburg connected on a layup by Graf with 18:31 left in the second half, making the score 32-19. Another long scoring run -- 24-5 over a 9:44 stretch -- gave the Johnnies their biggest lead of the game -- 59-29 with 7:31 left to play.

St. John's hit 46.3 percent (25-of-54) from the field, including 40 percent (8-of-20) from three-point range. Westman connected on three 3-pointers.

Meanwhile, Augsburg hit just 26.8 percent (15-of-56) from the field and 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from three-point range. St. John's also outrebounded Augsburg by a 47-29 margin in the game.

Brady Brink (So., Waconia, Minn.) scored eight points for the Johnnies, while Nick Johnson (So., Glencoe, Minn./Glencoe-Silver Lake HS) and Tim Veurink (Jr., Milaca, Minn.) had six points each. Ryan Lieser (Jr., Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori HS) had five assists and five rebounds.

Graf was the only Auggie to score in double figures. Aaron Benesh (Sr., Oconto, Wis.) had six points and three assists. Darren Nelson (So., Richfield, Minn.) scored five points.

Augsburg closes its season on Saturday (2/18) at 3:15 p.m. with a game at Macalester. St. John's, which has already clinched a berth in the six-team MIAC postseason playoffs, closes its regular season on Saturday at 3:15 p.m., hosting Gustavus.