NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- The Augsburg University men's basketball team survived a late rally by host St. Olaf College, scoring a 75-74 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday night at the Skoglund Center.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 75, St. Olaf 74
LOCATION: Skoglund Center, Northfield, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 12-4 overall (8-3 MIAC), St. Olaf 8-9 overall (5-7 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Leading 43-37 at halftime, Augsburg used a 13-2 run to take its biggest lead of the game, a 17-point margin at 56-39 with 15:50 remaining. But the host Oles chipped away at the advantage, and used a 12-0 run over a 2:54 span to take a 72-71 lead with 2:35 left. The teams exchanged free throws on the next three possessions, with Augsburg holding a 75-74 advantage with 1:29 left. A charging foul against the Auggies gave the Oles the ball with 39.3 seconds left. The Oles missed a pair of three-pointers, but regained the ball each time, the final time with two-tenths of a second left. The final inbounds pass found the Oles' Troy Diggins Jr. in the lane, and he attempted a volleyball-style tip set to put the ball in the basket, but the officials waved off the basket. NCAA men's basketball rules (Rule 5, Section 1, Article 19) state that if the clock is at three-tenths of a second or less, a field goal can be scored only on "a tap of a pass or of a missed free throw."
• Guard Matt Carik (JR, Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS) led the way for the Auggies, scoring 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, including four 3-pointers. He added five rebounds and two assists, playing all 40 minutes for the fifth time in his last six starts.
• Post player James Streeter (JR, Coon Rapids, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) had one of his best games in his first season as an Auggie, scoring a season-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers -- his fourth double-figure scoring game in his last five appearances. He also had a team-best seven rebounds.
• Booker Coplin (SR, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) scored in double figures for the 15th time in his 16 games this season, connecting on 13 points with five rebounds, four assists, four steals and a blocked shot.
• Henry Mulligan (SR, Iowa City, Iowa/Iowa City HS) scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field with two steals, and Martin Mitchell (SR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, adding three rebounds and three steals.
• Augsburg connected on 47.5 percent shooting from the field (28-of-59), its 12th game shooting 45.0 percent or better. Augsburg is now 11-1 in those games.
• St. Olaf out-rebounded Augsburg by a 34-25 margin. Augsburg scored 21 points off of 16 St. Olaf turnovers, while the Oles scored 10 points off of 11 Auggie miscues.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Augsburg has now won six of its last eight meetings against St. Olaf, including the last three in a row.
• Two of the last three meetings have literally come down to the final tenths of a second; the Auggies scored a 67-64 win on Coplin's three-pointer at the buzzer in last season's MIAC playoff quarterfinals.

FOR THE FOES
• Noah Beck led the Oles with 18 points, six rebounds and two assists.
• Diggins scored 16 points with 13 rebounds and three assists.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg hosts Concordia-Moorhead on Saturday (1/25) at 1 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.
• St. Olaf hosts Saint Mary's on Saturday at 1 p.m.