Men's Basketball 1/10/07 -- St. John's 75, Augsburg 65

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (1/10/07) -- Matt Ohme (Sr., Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) scored a game-high 18 points, including 14 in the second half, as his St. John's University men's basketball team held off host Augsburg College 75-65 in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

Craig Schafer (Sr., Anoka, Minn.) had 13 points and seven rebounds, while Brady Brink (Jr., Waconia, Minn.) came off the bench to claim a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Johnnies, now 10-3 overall and 8-0 in MIAC play.

Mitch Dice (Jr., Savage, Minn./Bloomington Lutheran HS) and Jon Cassens (Fr., Prior Lake, Minn.) scored 14 points apiece for Augsburg, which fell to 6-6 overall, 3-4 in MIAC play.

Justin Kozlowski (Jr., Wausau, Wis./Newman HS) came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers, scoring 13 points with three assists for the Auggies. Cassens also had three assists, while Dice connected on four 3-pointers.

The Johnnies, co-leaders in the MIAC, led from start to finish, building a 12-point halftime advantage, 41-29. In the second half, Augsburg trimmed the lead twice to five points -- 54-49 with 10:40 left and 67-62 with 1:11 left -- but the Johnnies were able to clinch the game at the free-throw line. The Johnnies hit 22-of-28 free throws -- 11-of-17 in the second half -- while Augsburg hit 9-of-11 from the charity stripe in the game.

St. John's took advantage of a 35.9-percent (23-of-64) shooting night by Augsburg, and outrebounded the Auggies by a 48-32 margin. St. John's pulled down 12 offensive rebounds, converting them into 15 second-chance points. St. John's hit 42.9 percent from the field (24-of-56).

Dan Graf (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) and Femi Solaja (Jr., Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Paul Harding HS) had seven rebounds apiece for the Auggies.

Ryan Lieser (Jr., Cold Spring, Minn./Rocori HS) scored 10 points with six rebounds and five assists for the Johnnies, while Tyler Westman (Sr., Mankato, Minn./Loyola HS) had nine points and five assists.

Augsburg returns to MIAC play on Saturday (1/13) at 1 p.m., playing at St. Mary's. St. John's returns to action on Monday (1/15) at 7:30 p.m., with a game at Hamline.