Men's Basketball 1/5/09 -- Augsburg 71, Concordia-Moorhead 69 (OT)
MOORHEAD, Minn. (1/5/09) -- Augsburg College's Matthew Quammen (SO, Minn./Holy Family HS) hit the game-winning jumper with seven seconds remaining to seal a thrilling 71-69 overtime victory over Concordia College-Moorhead in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on Monday night at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium.
Augsburg (5-5 overall, 3-2 MIAC) was led by newcomer Andy Grzesiak-Grimm (FY, Wyoming, Minn./St. Francis HS), who posted a game- and career-high 23 points, shooting 8-of-13 from floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Also scoring in double figures for the Auggies was Quammen, Nate Alm (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Jon Cassens (JR, Prior Lake, Minn.). Quammen finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while Alm recorded his third double-double of the season posting 12 points and 10 boards. Cassens led the Auggies with nine assists and chipped in 10 points.
For Concordia (4-7 overall, 1-5 MIAC), John Fraase (SO, Bismarck, N.D./Bismarck Century HS) and Darrin Olmscheid (SO, Buffalo, Minn.) led the way. Fraase put up a 15-point, 16-rebound effort, while Olmscheid posted 15 points and seven rebounds.
The two evenly matched teams needed an overtime period to decide who would go home with the victory. Augsburg held a narrow three-point lead at halftime, sparked by a Grzesiak-Grimm dunk with 59 seconds left in the half. The second half began with the two teams trading baskets for the first four minutes before the Cobbers went on a 15-2 run over a five-minute span. The Auggies regrouped and put together a 6-0 run of their own, bringing the score to 50-48 in favor of the Cobbers.
The Auggies regained the lead at the 2:35 mark off a layup by Alm, giving them a 60-59 advantage. Concordia came back on the next possession with a layup of its own to retake a one-point lead. Grzesiak-Grimm drew a shooting foul with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, converting on his first attempt to force the overtime.
Augsburg outscored Concordia 10-8 in the overtime period and sealed the victory when Quammen hit the game-winning jumper.
For the game, Augsburg shot 46.8 percent (29-for-62), while Concordia shot 50.0 percent (31-of-62) from the floor. The Cobbers claimed a slight advantage on the boards 33-30, but the difference in the game came down to the free-throw line where Augsburg was able to convert on 9-of-11 while limiting Concordia to only 2-of-5.
Augsburg will return to action on Wednesday (1/7) at 7:30 p.m., when it hosts St. John's at St. Melby Hall.
