Men's Basketball 2/17/07 -- Augsburg 87, Bethel 82 (OT)

BOXSCORE

MINNEAPOLIS (2/17/07) -- Femi Solaja (Jr., Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Paul Harding HS) collected his fourth double-double in his last five games, claiming season-highs of 27 points and 21 rebounds, adding three steals and two blocked shots as Augsburg College rallied for an 87-82 overtime victory over Bethel University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Si Melby Hall.

Grant Hemmingsen (Sr., New Brighton, Minn./Mounds View HS) hit a three-pointer at the second-half buzzer to force overtime, and Justin Kozlowski (Jr., Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman HS) scored eight of Augsburg's 16 points in overtime, as Augsburg outscored Bethel by a 16-11 margin in the extra session.

Kozlowski scored 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers for Augsburg, which finished the season at 10-15 overall, 7-13 in MIAC play. The 10 wins marked Augsburg's first double-digit victory season since the 2002-03 season (11-14). Jon Cassens (Fr., Prior Lake, Minn.) claimed his first collegiate double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, adding three steals and four 3-pointers.

Tim Madson (So., Redwood Falls, Minn./Redwood Valley HS) scored 24 points to lead Bethel, which finished the regular season at 18-7 overall, 13-7 in MIAC play. Bethel will host St. Olaf in an MIAC playoff first-round game on Monday (2/19) at 7:30 p.m. Cory Laugen (So., Monticello, Minn.) had 15 points and seven assists for the Royals, hitting three 3-pointers.

Augsburg, which trailed 35-30 at halftime, rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to force overtime. Trailing 56-42 with 9:18 left in regulation, the Auggies tied the game at 71-71 on Hemmingsen's second 3-pointer of the game -- and 18th of the season for the 6-foot-7 senior -- in the final seconds. The game was tied six times and there were 10 lead changes.

As a team, Augsburg connected on 12 three-pointers in the game and hit 39.2 percent (29-of-74) from the field. Meanwhile, Bethel hit 41.4 percent (29-of-70) from the field, hitting 11 three-pointers. Bethel outrebounded Augsburg by a 50-46 margin.

Dan Graf (Sr., Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) scored seven points with five rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Auggies, while David Olson (So., Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) had seven points. Hemmingsen scored six points with five rebounds.

For Bethel, Chris Vavra (So., Cambridge, Minn./Braham HS) and Jeff Reck (Jr., St. Paul, Minn./Harding HS) scored eight points each, while Mike Moberg (So., Plymouth, Minn./Maple Grove HS) and Charles Meadowcroft (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Columbia Heights HS) had seven points apiece. Meadowcroft added 11 rebounds, while Moberg had seven rebounds and two steals.