Men's Basketball 1/3/09 -- St. Olaf 57, Augsburg 55

MINNEAPOLIS (1/3/09) -- Augsburg College's Jon Cassens (JR, Prior Lake, Minn.) led all scorers with 16 points and five assists, as the Auggies suffered their second consecutive two-point loss as St. Olaf College claimed a 57-55 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Si Melby Hall.

An evenly matched first half saw the score tied seven times with eight lead changes. The Auggies (4-5 overall, 2-2 MIAC) were able to capitalize on 10-of-13 from the free throw line while forcing 11 St. Olaf (4-5 overall, 1-3 MIAC) turnovers. A pair of free throws by Cassens gave the Auggies a 26-24 lead at the intermission.

Augsburg came out strong in the second half, building its largest lead of the afternoon, a 10-point advantage at the 12:01 mark. St. Olaf continued to chip away at the Augsburg lead, gaining its first lead of the half on a layup by Brady McMahon (SR, Cottage Grove, Minn./Park HS) with 4:50 remaining.

A jumper by Nate Alm (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) on Augsburg's next possession would regain the lead for the Auggies. Anthony Humphrey (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS), in his first game for the Auggies, hit two three-pointers in the final 2:34 to pull Augsburg within one at the 1:36 mark. The Auggies were not able to convert on their final scoring attempts as St. Olaf claimed the narrow 57-55 victory.

Humphrey scored 14 points in his Auggie debut, while David Olson (SR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) scored nine points with four assists. Cassens added five assists to his 16-point total. For St. Olaf, Nate Krosschell (SO, Edina, Minn.) led the way with 15 points, while Bobby Fong (FY, Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) had 12 points and eight rebounds.

For the game, Augsburg shot 38.8 percent (19-for-49) while St. Olaf shot 40.8 percent (20-of-49) from the floor. St. Olaf outrebounded Augsburg 37-26 and outscored the Auggies 24-12 in points in the paint.

Augsburg will return to action on Monday (1/5), when it travels to Moorhead to take on Concordia-Moorhead in a men's and women's doubleheader. Men's action begins at 7:45 p.m. while the women tip off at 5:45 p.m.