MINNEAPOLIS – Fueled by a dominant performance in the second half, the Augsburg University men's basketball team secured a 76-60 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Bethel University on Tuesday night at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 76, Bethel 60
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 2-1 overall (1-1 MIAC), Bethel 1-4 overall (0-2 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Auggies came out strong in the early goings of the first half, quickly jumping out to a 13-4 lead. The Royals fought back and chipped away at the deficit in the following three minutes, regaining the lead at 18-17 with just over 10 minutes to play. Bethel would hold the advantage for the remainder of the half, taking a 39-33 lead into the locker room.
• Augsburg regained momentum coming out of the break, opening the half on a 21-4 run to take an 11-point lead at 54-43 with 12:30 left to play in the game. Bethel managed to cut the deficit to six near the 11-minute mark, but Augsburg took control once again to push the lead to a game-high 21 points at 76-55 with less than a minute left before two late Royal buckets made it 76-60 as the buzzer sounded.
• Conner Knoepfle (SR, Andover, Minn./Andover HS) logged a game-high 18 points on seven-of-13 shooting from the floor to lead the Augsburg offense and grabbed six rebounds and three steals. Colin Meade (JR, Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) was just behind him as the only other scorer in double figures with 13 points on six-of-11 shooting, also adding eight rebounds.
• Kayser Hasaan (FY, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) registered nine points and three rebounds while Bradley Winter (SR, Winona, Minn./Winona HS) nabbed a team-leading 11 rebounds and scored eight points.  Will Blascziek (So, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) rounded out the starters with seven points.
• Carson Kolles (FY, Monticello, Minn.) and Isaac Rabaey (SO, Hastings, Minn.) each added eight points off the bench.
• The Auggies were the better shooting team throughout the game, hitting 30 of their 68 shots (44.1%) compared to Bethel's 22-of-65 (33.8%) performance. Augsburg was dominant in the lane, outscoring Bethel 44-28 in the paint.

FOR THE FOES
• The Royals' scoring attack was led by Josh Hoffman with 14 points off the bench while Zach Doely led the starters with a 13-point, 16-rebound double-double.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will hit the road for a nonconference tilt with the University of Wisconsin-Stout on Saturday (11/26) at 3 pm.