ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – Behind a double-double from Joe Palmer (JR, Faribault, Minn./Rogers HS), the Augsburg University men's basketball team earned a 92-74 win over Crown College to open their season on Wednesday evening at Wild Athletic Center.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg def. Crown College 92-74
LOCATION: Wild Athletic Center, St. Bonifacius, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-0 overall, Crown 2-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The score stayed tight in the opening minutes of the game, with Augsburg holding a 14-13 advantage with 14:29 left in the first half. The Auggies went on a 10-2 run from there, pushing the lead to 11 near the midway point of the first half. The Storm managed to cut the Augsburg lead to eight as the teams headed into halftime with the Auggies up 48-40.
• The early portion of the second half was a back-and-forth affair, but the Auggies still managed to outscore the Storm as they held a 66-53 lead with around 10 minutes remaining. From there, the Auggies continued to push the lead as they outscored Crown 26-21 in the final 10 minutes to seal the victory.
• The Auggies were effective from beyond the arc in the game, hitting 11 of their 26 attempts (42.3 percent) compared to Crown's 3-21 (14.3 percent). Augsburg also outrebounded the Storm by a margin of 40-34. Overall, the Auggies connected on 32 of their 65 shots from the floor (49.2 percent).
• Palmer was a force in every facet of the game for Augsburg, notching 25 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, to go along with four steals and three assists.
• Jack Sorenson (JR, Lakeville, Minn., Lakeville South HS) also had a strong outing, putting up 14 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Matt Carik (SR, Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS) was just behind him with 13 points, three assists, and a team-high six assists.
• Rayquan Moore (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) and Will Schmidt (SR, Maple Grove, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) each also reached double figures in scoring with 13 and 10, respectively.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• Wednesday's game marked the 12th meeting between Augsburg and Crown, with the Auggies now holding a 11-1 advantage in the series.

 FOR THE FOES
• Crown was led by Micah Ladd with 19 points, five assists, and three rebounds.
• Cade Carroll and Carter Behne also hit double figures with 13 points and 11 points, respectively.

UP NEXT
• Augsburg returns to action on Saturday (11/13) at 5 p.m. with a road matchup against the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.