MINNEAPOLIS – The Augsburg University men's basketball team played a back-and-forth thriller in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against Bethel University on Tuesday evening, ultimately falling to the Royals 81-79 on a buzzer-beater at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Bethel 81, Augsburg 79
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-2 overall (0-1 MIAC), Bethel 1-2 overall (1-0 MIAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The Auggies controlled the pace of play early, quickly jumping out to a 12-2 lead less than four minutes into the game. Augsburg maintained a narrow advantage for most of the first half, but the Royals managed to jump on top at 30-29 with 2:49 to play. The Royal advantage proved to be short lived as Augsburg quickly jumped back in front and maintained an advantage for the remainder of the half, taking a 41-39 lead to the locker room at halftime.
• It quickly became a busy game at the free throw line with 23 combined personal fouls in the first half alone. Drawing 14 personal fouls, the Auggies knocked down 6 of their 16 attempts from the line while Bethel was 4-of-6 from the line on nine Auggie fouls.
• Augsburg opened the second half on a 7-2 run to expand the lead to seven at 48-41, but the Royals rallied to retake the lead at 50-49 with 13:28 to play. The game contained eight lead changes from that point, culminating in a 79-79 tie with just three seconds on the clock following a pair of made free throws by Will Blascziek (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS). Bethel's Zach Doely caught the ensuing inbound pass and took it the length of the floor, sinking a floater as time expired to win the game for the Royals.
• The Royals narrowly outshot the Auggies from the floor, hitting 32 of their 62 attempts (51.6%) while Augsburg connected on 29-of-57 (50.9%). The Auggies won the turnover battle by a margin of 20-13, turning those Royal turnovers into 19 points while Bethel scored 17. Bethel also held a 37-32 edge in rebounds, including a 10-8 advantage on the offensive glass. In its entirety, the game contained a whopping 48 personal fouls – 27 called on Bethel and 21 on Augsburg – and 42 total free throw attempts.
• Colin Meade (SR, Rochester, Minn./Lourdes HS) checked in as the scoring leader for the Auggies, finishing with 21 points on a 9-of-15 shooting performance while puling down five rebounds and adding four assists and two steals. Trent Gomez (FY, Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS) was just behind him with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting, also contributing five assists, three rebounds, and a steal. Blascziek was the third and final Auggie in double figures with 14 points on a 5-of-13 shooting performance.
• Caden Scales (SR, Richfield, Minn./Eastview HS) was the top performer off the bench with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting to go along with a rebound and an assist.

FOR THE FOES
• Prior to fouling out late in the second half, Payton Thomsen was the offensive leader for Bethel with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, also adding three assists, two rebounds, and a steal.
• Doely and Caden Boettcher also reached double figures with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies are set to host the University of Wisconsin-Stout in nonconference action at Si Melby Hall on Saturday (11/25) at 3 pm.