Men's Basketball 11/21/08 -- Augsburg 89, Crown 43

MINNEAPOLIS (11/21/08) -- The Augsburg College men's basketball team (2-0 overall) defeated Crown College (0-2 overall) 89-43 on Friday night for its second consecutive nonconference victory over the Storm. With the win at Si Melby Hall, the Auggies extend their home win streak to seven consecutive games.

Augsburg used a balanced offensive attack and aggressive defense to control the tempo and keep Crown from finding its rhythm. Offensively, the Auggies had four players in double figures, led by Jon Cassens (JR, Prior Lake, Minn.) with 18 points. Recording his first double-double of the season was Nate Alm (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.), who posted 12 points and 10 rebounds, while also claiming four steals. Also scoring in double figures for the Auggies was Ben Flavin (FY, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) and David Olson (SR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) who posted 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Auggies had a solid shooting performance, connecting on 48.1 percent (37-of-77) from the field, including an impressive 51.4 percent (19-of-37) in the second half. For the second consecutive game, the Auggie defense thoroughly flustered their opponent, forcing the Storm to have 21 turnovers, resulting in 25 points for the Auggies. In comparison, the Crown defense was only able to force 10 turnovers and four points off those turnovers.

The Augsburg bench continued its strong play, outscoring the Crown bench 31-8. Also factoring into the Auggie victory was a 28-8 advantage in points in the paint and a 22-8 advantage in second-chance points.

Augsburg's Cory Polta (FY, Spring Lake Park, Minn.) scored the first bucket of the game on a short jumper and it turned out to be a lead the Auggies would never give up. The Auggies took a 19-point lead into the locker room at half time and continued their strong play in the second half, not allowing the Storm to score in the final 4:47.

Crown was led by Jabob Jarvis and Daniel Pust. Jarvis scored 19 points and collected three rebounds, while Pust pulled down eight boards and posted seven points.

Augsburg will return to action on Sunday (11/23) at 4 p.m. against Division II opponent Concordia-St. Paul at the CSP Gangelhof Center.