MINNEAPOLIS – The Augsburg University men's basketball team opened its season at home on Wednesday evening, taking down North Central University (Minn.) 85-79 in nonconference play at Si Melby Hall.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 85, North Central 79
LOCATION: Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 1-0 overall, North Central 0-1 overall

HOW IT HAPPENED
• The first half of play was extremely competitive with 11 lead changes and ties at 7, 11, 13, 15, 21, and 29. Tied at 29 each with 4:55 to play in the half, the Auggies outscored the Rams 12-7 the rest of the way to take a 41-36 advantage to the locker room.
• The Auggie advantage grew as high as 11 in the second half as Augsburg maintained its lead throughout the half to secure the 85-79 win.
• Will Blascziek (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) finished as the scoring leader for Augsburg, tallying 16 points with a 7-of-11 shooting performance and adding two steals and a rebound. Making his Augsburg debut after transferring from St. Cloud State, Austin Jentzen (SR, Brooklyn Park, Minn./St. Michael-Albertville HS) was second on the team with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, also adding a team-high eight rebounds and two blocks.
• Also playing in his first game at Augsburg as a transfer from Bemidji State, Jalen Dearring (JR, Minneapolis, Minn./Hopkins HS) scored 11 points and pulled down four rebounds. Caden Scales (SR, Richfield, Minn./Eastview HS) provided a spark off the bench, securing five rebounds and knocking down three of his five attempts for 10 points.
• The Auggies outshot the Rams 55.6% to 47.2%, knocking down 35 of their 63 attempts from the field compared to a 34-of-72 performance by North Central. Augsburg also narrowly won the battle on the glass with 36 rebounds to the Rams' 35. The Auggie bench provided another advantage, outscoring that of North Central 31-22 in the game.

FOR THE FOES
• The Rams featured a balanced offensive approach with Ja'Shon Simpson scoring 15, Tanner Holtman adding 14, and Cameron Thomas and Carrington McNeal scoring 13 each.

UP NEXT
• The Auggies will continue nonconference play at Minnesota-Morris on Tuesday (11/14) at 7 pm.