MINNEAPOLIS – Despite another late comeback bid that nearly erased a 13-point second-half deficit, the Augsburg University men's basketball team dropped its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest of the season on Monday evening, falling 84-81 to Gustavus at Si Melby Hall

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Gustavus 84, Augsburg 81
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 14-4 overall (11-2 MIAC), Gustavus 11-7 (8-5 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Auggies got off to a strong start despite early foul trouble, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and holding a 17-6 advantage at the 12:28 mark. The lead grew to as many as 13 before Gustavus began to chip away. The Gusties managed a 17-5 scoring run to close out the half, taking a 42-39 lead just before the buzzer in the first lead change of the game.
• Augsburg fared well in the opening minutes of the second half, regaining the lead on a three-pointer by Joe Palmer (JR, Faribault, Minn./Faribault HS) less than four minutes in. The Gusties quickly regained momentum, jumping back on top and using a 19-6 run to give themselves plenty of breathing room.
• Despite the 13-point deficit with eight minutes remaining, the Auggies refused to go away easily as they went to work and managed a 10-3 run to make it a six-point game with under five minutes left. Trailing by seven with 34 seconds left, Palmer knocked down a three and Jack Sorenson (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS) grabbed a steal just after the subsequent inbounds pass and dished it to Palmer for a quick layup, making it just a two-point game. After a pair of Gustavus free throws and a late bucket from Matt Carik (SR, Rogers Minn./Rogers HS), the Gusties held a three-point lead with just seven seconds left. Carik had a chance to tie it with a contested shot at the buzzer, but the shot did not fall and the Gusties held on for the win.
• Palmer notched his 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Sorenson scored 13 points and grabbed two steals, a rebound, and an assist.
•  Conner Knoepfle (SR, Andover, Minn./Andover HS) and Rayquan Moore (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./DeLaSalle HS) added 11 points each with Knoepfle contributing two rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist and Moore tallying two rebounds, two steals, and an assist.
• Carik scored nine points to go along with a team-leading five assists and three rebounds.  
• The Auggies connected on 30 of their 64 shots (46.9%) while Gustavus hit on 31-of-60 (51.7%).
• Augsburg edged the Gusties in fast break points 6-5 and won the battle in the paint by a margin of 34-26.  

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
• With his first bucket of the game, Carik became the 24th player in program history to reach the 1000 career-points mark, doing so in his 101st career-game.
• Following the game, Palmer remains atop the MIAC overall statistics rankings with 9.4 rebounds per-game and 21.1 points per-game while sitting fourth with a field goal percentage of 54.0%.

FOR THE FOES
• The Gusties were bolstered by the scoring trio of Nolan Malo with 23 points, Kaleb Feahn with 21 points, and Peter Lundquist with 17 points.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will head to Winona, Minn. for a matchup with Saint Mary's on Wednesday (2/9) at 7 p.m.