Men's Basketball 2/6/08 -- Augsburg 88, Macalester 71

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MINNEAPOLIS (2/6/08) -- With four starters scoring in double-figures, Augsburg College rallied from a slow start with a dominating first-half run, en route to its sixth win in its last eight games and fourth win in a row, an 88-71 triumph over visiting Macalester College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball game on Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

After starting the game 1-for-9 from the field and trailing 10-3, Augsburg (9-11 overall, 7-8 MIAC) closed the first half hitting 18-of-20 field goals, including a stretch of 11 straight shots, to take its biggest lead of the game, 49-27 at halftime. Augsburg started the game shooting 1-of-6 from three-point range, but hit its next seven straight three-pointers in the first half. Augsburg hit 11 three-pointers in the game; over its last eight games, Augsburg has hit at least 10 three-pointers in five of its six victories.

Nate Alm (JR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the Auggies with 19 points, four rebounds and two steals, while Jon Cassens (SO, Prior Lake, Minn.) scored 15 points with eight assists and two 3-pointers, Femi Solaja (SR, Cottage Grove, Minn./St. Paul Harding HS) scored 14 points with four rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting from the field, and Justin Kozlowski * (SR, Wausau, Wis./Wausau Newman HS) scored 12 points -- all on three-pointers -- with four assists and five rebounds.

Macalester (6-14 overall, 4-11 MIAC) was led by Abe Woldeslassie (SR, Richfield, Minn./St. Thomas Academy HS), who scored 30 points with eight assists and four rebounds. Woldeslassie hit five 3-pointers and went 11-of-17 from the field. Tom Conboy (SR, Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka HS) scored 16 points with eight rebounds, and Kyle Hamblett (FY, Paris, France/American School of Paris) scored 12 points.

David Olson (JR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) hit two 3-pointers and scored nine points for the Auggies, while Mitch Dice (SR, Savage, Minn./Bloomington Lutheran HS) also hit two 3-pointers, scoring seven points with six rebounds.

As a team, Augsburg hit 59.3 percent (35-of-59) from the field, including 67.9 percent (19-of-28) in the first half. Meanwhile, Macalester hit 40.6 percent (28-of-69) from the field in the game. Augsburg outrebounded Macalester by a 40-30 margin.

Both teams return to MIAC play on Saturday (2/9) at 3 p.m., with Augsburg hosting St. John's and Macalester hosting St. Olaf.