MINNEAPOLIS -- The Augsburg College men's basketball team continued its push for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference playoffs with 78-70 win over Macalester College on Wednesday night at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 78, Macalester 70
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 11-13 overall (9-10 MIAC), Macalester 9-15 overall (5-14 MIAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg used its best shooting performance in nearly a month, connecting on 52.8 percent (28-of-53) of its shot attempts for the game. The Auggies shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) in the second half, including an impressive 6-for-10 from three-point range. In comparison, the Augsburg defense held Macalester to 45.2 percent (28-of-62) shooting and just 6-of-21 from three-point range for the game.
• After a tied ball game at half, Augsburg outscored the Scots 47-39 in the second-half as the Auggies posted the must-win victory over Macalester.
• Augsburg finished with four players in double figures led by Collin Olmscheid (JR, Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo HS), who scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor. Olmscheid posted a season-best five assists, to go along with four rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot.
• Leading the Auggies on the boards was Kevin McKiernan (SO, Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS), who posted seven rebounds and 16 points, shooting 5-of-7 from the field, while adding six assists.
• Also scoring in double figures for Augsburg was Nick Sabatke (JR, Eagan, Minn./Eagan HS) and Nick Varner (JR, Farmington, Minn./Farmington HS), who scored 12 points apiece. Sabatke shot 4-of-5 from three-point range, while Varner finished 4-of-6 from the field and added five rebounds.
• Macalester claimed a narrow 33-32 advantage on the boards.
• The Auggies were able to convert 14-of-18 from the charity stripe, while the Scots were only able to hit 8-of-13.

FOR THE FOES
• Macalester was led by the duo of Kareem Ismail and Michael Gutierrez. Ismail posted a game-high 26 points, while adding six rebounds and a pair of assists. Gutierrez nearly posted a triple double, finishing with 18 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
• Macalester posted a 38-16 advantage in points in the paint.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies close out the regular season on Saturday (2/18) at 3 p.m., when they travel to Northfield, Minn. to take on St. Olaf College in a women's-men's double header.
• Macalester also closes out its MIAC season, when the Scots travel to across town to take on the Hamline University.