Men's Basketball 1/26/08 -- Augsburg 73, Gustavus 61
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ST. PETER, Minn. (1/26/08) -- Femi Solaja (SR, Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Paul Harding HS) claimed his sixth double-double of the season and 10th in his two years at Augsburg College, leading the Auggies to a 73-61 victory over host Gustavus Adolphus College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Gus Young Court.
Solaja scored 27 points with 12 rebounds for Augsburg (6-11 overall, 4-8 MIAC). The MIAC's leader in overall field-goal percentage (.602) entering Saturday's game, Solaja hit 9-of-11 from the field -- 6-of-6 in the second half. He scored 19 points with seven rebounds in the second half, as the Auggies pulled away from a 31-29 halftime advantage to eventually lead by 15 points down the stretch.
Jon Cassens (SO, Prior Lake, Minn.) scored 20 points with three assists, including 9-of-11 from the free-throw line, while Matt Quammen (FY, Victoria, Minn./Holy Family Catholic HS) came off the bench to score a season-high nine points with five rebounds for the Auggies. Nate Alm (JR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) had eight rebounds to go along with four points, and Justin Kozlowski * (SR, Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman HS) scored five points.
Gustavus (13-4 overall, 9-3 MIAC), which dropped out of a first-place tie with St. Thomas (14-3 overall, 10-2 MIAC) in the MIAC with the loss, was led by Trevor Wittwer, who scored 29 points with nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Kane Sivesind and Andrew Doble scored eight points apiece, with Sivesind adding four steals and three assists.
Neither team led by more than five points in a close first half, which featured four ties and six lead changes. Leading just 43-40 with 12:14 left in the second half, Augsburg used a 7-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game, a 50-40 advantage with 10:29 left. Cassens had five points in the run. The Gusties trimmed the lead to five points at 52-47 with 7:50 left, but that was the closest the Gusties would get, as Augsburg used a 15-5 run to take a 15-point advantage, 67-52 with 1:08 left. Solaja had nine points in the game-clinching run.
Both teams had similar shooting days from the field -- Augsburg shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) while Gustavus shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) -- but Augsburg took advantage of its trips to the free-throw line. The Auggies hit 75 percent (21-of-28) from the charity stripe, while the Gusties hit 58.3 percent (7-of-12). Augsburg also outrebounded Gustavus by a 38-30 margin.
Augsburg returns to MIAC action next Saturday (2/2), hosting Hamline at 3 p.m. at Si Melby Hall. Gustavus returns to MIAC play on Wednesday (1/30) at 7:30 p.m., with a game at Bethel.
