MINNEAPOLIS – The Augsburg University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to St. Olaf College on Saturday afternoon, falling 72-68 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: St. Olaf 72, Augsburg 68
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.   
RECORDS: Augsburg 4-10 overall (2-7 MIAC), St. Olaf 9-5 overall (5-4 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Both teams got off to sluggish starts in the game, going a combined 0-6 from the field before Colin Meade (JR, Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) got the Auggies on the board with a layup more than two minutes in. The Auggies worked their way out to a 7-0 lead, but the Oles responded with a 7-0 run of their own to tie the game back up. The Auggies dominated the remainder of the half, outscoring St. Olaf 29-18 to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room.
• Augsburg continued to control the pace of play in the opening minutes of the second half, leading by double-digits until St. Olaf cut the deficit to nine with 15:54 on the clock. Trialing by 11 with just under 13 minutes to play, the Oles flipped the script with a 12-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 53-52 with 8:30 remaining. The Auggies briefly regained the lead on two occasions, but St. Olaf remained in the driver's seat as it pushed the lead to as many as nine. Kayser Hasaan (FY, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) did his best to build momentum for the Auggies with a pair of vicious, one-handed slams that helped cut the deficit to two in the waning minutes of the game, but it proved to be too little, too late as St. Olaf hung on for the narrow four-point victory.
• Meade had an outstanding day for the Auggies, shooting 9-13 from the field for a career-high 23 points while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds. Will Blascziek (SO, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) finished with 13 points and three rebounds while Hassan tallied 10 points on 5-8 shooting and pulled down seven boards.
• As a team, the Auggies knocked down 28 of their 56 shots (50.0%) while St. Olaf narrowly outshot them with a 31-58 (53.4%) performance. Despite having two less offensive rebounds, the Auggies held a 9-5 advantage in second-chance points.

FOR THE FOES
• Connor Martin led St. Olaf with a 20 point, seven rebound game while Kobe Kirk and Michael Meriggioli scored 12 and 11, respectively.

UP NEXT
• It will be a quick turn around for the Auggies as they prepare to host Saint Mary's University on Monday, January 16 at 7 pm in MIAC action.