Men's Basketball 1/19/09 -- Augsburg 84, St. Mary's 64
MINNEAPOLIS (1/19/09) -- Nate Alm (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) led Augsburg College with 14 points and 12 rebounds, as the Auggies claimed their second consecutive Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory with an 84-64 win over St. Mary's University at Si Melby Hall on Monday night.
Augsburg (9-6 overall, 7-3 MIAC) was led by five players finishing in double-figures. Alm led the way with his fourth double-double in the past six games, shooting 6-for-8 from the field, while chipping in two assists and two blocked shots. David Olson (SR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) tied Alm's game-high 14 points and tied a career-high six assists, while adding three rebounds and two steals. Andy Grzesiak-Grimm (FY, Wyoming, Minn./St. Francis HS) finished with 11 points and two blocked shots, while both Jon Cassens (JR, Prior Lake, Minn.) and Cory Polta (FY, Spring Lake Park, Minn.) added 10 points apiece.
St. Mary's (4-11 overall, 3-7 MIAC) was led by the duo of Lukas Holland (SO, La Crosse, Wis./La Crosse Central HS) and Will Wright (SO, Chicago, Ill./Marist HS). Holland finished with 13 points and two assists while shooting 3-for-3 from beyond the three-point arc. Wright recorded an 11-point, three-rebound performance as the only other Cardinal to finish in double figures.
The Auggies started the game on an 11-0 run and would continue outscore the Cardinals 26-6 over the first 10-and-a-half minutes of action. St. Mary's countered with a 12-4 run to cut the Augsburg lead to 12 at the 7:03 mark. Both teams traded baskets until the final two minutes, where the Auggies closed the half with a 6-0 run to take a 44-26 lead into the locker room at the half. Fourteen Auggies saw game action and 10 Auggies scored in the game.
Augsburg continued to shoot the ball well in the second half and never let the Cardinals get closer than 18. The Auggies shot 60.7 percent (37-of-61) from the floor in the game, while holding St. Mary's to 40.4 percent (21-of-52). The difference in the game came down to rebounding and play in the paint. Augsburg won the battle on the boards 37-27 and outscored the Cardinals 17-4 in second chance points. Although Augsburg shot well from the three point line (5-of-9), the Auggies did most of their damage in the lane, outscoring St. Mary's 52-14 in points in the paint.
Augsburg returns to action on Wednesday (1/21) at 7:30 p.m. when it travels to Hamline for the start of second half of the MIAC double-round-robin schedule.
