ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A 20-5 run over the final 5:54 of the first half gave the Augsburg University men's basketball team a lead it would not relinquish, as the Auggies pulled away for an 87-55 nonconference victory at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul on Monday evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Augsburg 87, Northwestern-St. Paul 55
LOCATION: Ericksen Center, St. Paul, Minn.
RECORDS: Augsburg 10-3 overall, Northwestern-St. Paul 2-10 overall
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Augsburg jumped out to a 13-4 lead in the first 6:29 of play, but Northwestern rallied back with a 12-2 run to take the lead at 16-15 with 9:12 left in the first half. Trailing 22-21 with 5:54 left in the half, Augsburg outscored Northwestern by a 20-5 margin, taking a 41-27 lead into the locker room. The Auggies continued the offensive push in the second half, pulling away to lead by as many as 34 points down the stretch.
• The Auggies were led by
JJ Semanko (FY, New Hope, Minn./Hopkins HS), who scored 29 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field, adding 13 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. He has now scored in double figures in 11 of his first 13 collegiate games.
• Sixteen Auggies saw game action, with 14 scoring in the victory.
•
Elias Batala (JR, Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview HS) scored 11 points, adding four rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.
•
Hanif Muhammad (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./Breck HS) scored eight points with six rebounds, four steals and two assists.
•
Trent Gomez (JR, Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors HS) scored eight points for the Auggies, and
Julien Hussherr (SR, Strasbourg, Alsace, France/Episcopal Saint Etienne HS) scored seven points with two assists.
• Augsburg shot 44.9 percent (31-of-69) from the field, while Northwestern shot 32.8 percent (21-of-64). The Auggies outrebounded the Eagles by a 44-31 margin and dominated in the paint, with a 44-22 points-in-the-paint advantage.
FOR THE FOES
• Northwestern was led by Jacob Hoefs, who scored 11 points with three rebounds.
• Noah Frazell scored seven points with three rebounds.
UP NEXT
• Augsburg returns to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play for the rest of the regular season, hosting Macalester College on Saturday (1/10) at 3 p.m. at Si Melby Hall.
