Men's Basketball 1/6/07 -- Macalester 90, Augsburg 76

BOXSCORE

ST. PAUL, Minn. (1/6/07) -- Abe Woldeslassie scored a game-high 32 points -- 23 points in the second half -- as his Macalester College men's basketball team scored a 90-76 victory over visiting Augsburg College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Macalester Gym.

Dan Graf (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) collected his second double-double in a row for Augsburg (6-4 overall, 3-2 MIAC) with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while Femi Solaja (Jr., Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Paul Harding HS) had 15 points and seven rebounds, and Jon Cassens (Fr., Prior Lake, Minn.) had 14 points and four assists. Darren Nelson (So., Richfield, Minn.) scored 11 points.

Tom Conboy had 17 points for Macalester (5-5 overall, 2-3 MIAC), while Jesse Hollander had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Brad Liddell had 12 points, hitting four 3-pointers.

One of the key differences in the game was turnovers. Macalester forced 27 Augsburg turnovers and claimed 16 steals, which the Scots converted into 19 points. Meanwhile, Augsburg scored just eight points off of nine Macalester turnovers. Also, the Scots went to the free-throw line 34 times, hitting 26; Augsburg was 13-of-21 from the charity stripe.

Augsburg jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first seven minutes of play, but Macalester trimmed the lead over the next 10 minutes and eventually took a 38-33 halftime advantage. A 9-4 run over the first 3:05 of the second half gave the Scots a 10-point advantage, 47-37, and the 14-point margin of victory was the Scots' largest lead of the game.

Augsburg hit 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the field, while pulling down 37 rebounds. Macalester hit 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field, while pulling down 27 rebounds.

Chuck Scott * (Sr., Ely, Minn.) scored eight points with six rebounds for the Auggies, while Mitch Dice (Jr., Savage, Minn./Bloomington Lutheran HS) had seven points and five rebounds. Brian Ranwick scored nine points for Macalester.

Both teams return to action on Monday (1/8) at 5:45 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. Thomas and Macalester hosting St. John's.