BOXSCORE MINNEAPOLIS -- For the fifth straight game, Augsburg College center Dan Kornbaum (JR, Little Falls, Minn.) produced a 20-plus-point effort, scoring 28 points and pulling down nine rebounds to lead his Auggies to a 75-71 win over Saint John's University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball contest on Monday evening at Si Melby Hall.

Kornbaum, the MIAC's leading scorer with a 19.9 points-per-game average in overall play, claimed a 20-plus-point game for the seventh time this season, scoring in double figures in each of his 12 games so far. He also claimed nine-plus rebounds for the sixth time this year, and added a blocked shot.

Augsburg claimed its third straight victory in improving to 8-4 overall, 4-3 in MIAC play. Saint John's drops to 5-7 overall, 3-4 in MIAC play.

Andy Seidlitz (SR, New Hope, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) scored 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point range, while contributing five assists and a blocked shot. Noah Veach (SR, Grand Haven, Mich.) scored in double figures for the 11th time in his 12 games this season, contributing 13 points and seven rebounds.

Point guard Parker Hines (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Minnehaha Academy HS) contributed eight assists to go along with two points. Ryan Gilmer (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson HS) scored five points with six rebounds.

Saint John's was paced by four players scoring in double figures -- Patrick Butcher (SR, Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier HS) and Alex Schmitt (SO, Chaska, Minn./Waconia HS), who each had 15 points and three rebounds; Joe Risinger (SO, Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka HS) with 11 points, five rebounds and three steals; and Kevin McKenzie (SR, De Pere, Wis./Notre Dame Academy HS) with 10 points and three rebounds.

After a 14-4 run to start the game by the Auggies -- punctuated by a Kornbaum alley-oop dunk from Hines with 13:27 left in the first half -- the game became an intense, back-and-forth struggle. After the Johnnies used a 14-5 run to cut the Auggie lead to 19-18 with 8:53 left in the first half, neither team could generate a lead greater than seven points the rest of the way. There were three ties and eight lead changes in the game -- all in the second half.

Augsburg took a 34-31 lead into the locker room at halftime, but Saint John's opened the second half with four straight points to take its first lead of the game, 35-34 with 17:11 to play. Augsburg used a 12-4 run, with five points each by Veach and Kornbaum, to take its largest second-half lead, 46-39 with 13:47 remaining. But the Johnnies rallied back, and a 9-4 run gave the visitors their biggest lead of the game, 59-53 with 8:39 left.

The teams exchanged leads four more times and had two more ties in the closing minutes, with Augsburg taking the lead for good on two free throws by Veach with 1:11 left. A Kornbaum layup with 27 seconds left gave the Auggies a 73-69 lead, and the Auggies were able to convert 1-of-2 from the free-throw line on each of their final two possessions to clinch the win. Augsburg connected on 11-of-13 shots from the free-throw line in the second half, leading to a 14-of-17 effort from the charity stripe in the game.

Augsburg shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) from the field, including a season-high 63.6 percent (7-of-11) from three-point range -- its sixth game this season, and fifth in its last six, connecting on seven or more three-pointers. Augsburg is now 6-1 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field this season.

Saint John's hit 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field, but was limited to 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from beyond the three-point arc. Augsburg held an opponent to under 50-percent shooting from the field for the seventh time this season, and the Auggies are 6-1 in those contests.

The Johnnies connected on 19-of-26 from the free-throw line in the game. Augsburg outrebounded Saint John's by a 35-25 margin. Saint John's scored 22 points off of 15 Augsburg turnovers, while Augsburg scored just five points off of four Johnnie turnovers.

Both teams are back in MIAC play with road games on Wednesday (1/15). Augsburg plays at Carleton at 7:30 p.m., while Saint John's plays at Concordia-Moorhead at 7 p.m.