Men's Basketball 2/21/09 -- St. Mary's 82, Augsburg 75
WINONA, Minn. (2/21/09) -- Augsburg College's David Olson (SR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) led all scorers with 27 points, but it wasn't enough as the Auggies dropped an 82-75 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball contest to St. Mary's University on Saturday afternoon at SMU's Field House.
Despite the loss, Augsburg (14-11 overall, 12-8 MIAC) will host a game in the MIAC's postseason playoffs as the No. 4 team in the six-team field. Augsburg will host Carleton, the No. 5 seed, on Monday (2/23) at 7:30 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.
Augsburg was led by Olson's 27 points, four rebounds and two steals. Also having a solid day for the Auggies was Andy Grzesiak-Grimm (FY, Wyoming, Minn./St. Francis HS), who scored 18 points and seven rebounds on a 7-for-10 shooting performance. Leading the Auggies on the boards was Nate Alm (SR, Eden Prairie, Minn.), who posted 10 rebounds with four points and two assists.
St. Mary's (7-18 overall, 6-14 MIAC) was led by the duo of Will Wright (SO, Chicago, Ill./Marist HS) and Lukas Holland (SO, La Crosse, Wis./La Crosse Central HS). Wright posted 24 points, five rebounds and two assists, while Holland recorded 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Also scoring in double figures for the Cardinals was Bradley Bruno (FY, Chicago, Ill./Saint Patrick HS), who scored 14 points and five rebounds.
Augsburg used a 16-5 run over the first five minutes of action to take an early lead, but St. Mary's countered with a 17-0 run to take a 22-16 lead over the Auggies. Both teams traded baskets for the reminder of the half as St. Mary's took a 40-32 lead into the locker room.
The two teams traded baskets for the opening six minutes until the Auggies went on a 10-0 and cut the Cardinal lead to one off three free-throws by Olson at the 11:35 mark. St. Mary's countered with 10-0 run and was able to hit free throws down the home stretch to hang on for the win.
For the game, Augsburg shot 42.0 percent (29-of-69) from the floor, while the Cardinals connected on 46.0 percent (26-of-56). St. Mary's claimed a slight 39-38 advantage on the boards and was able to capitalize on 23-of-29 from the free throw line while the Auggies were only able to hit 12-of-16.
