The Gustavus men’s basketball team got off to a slow start, but dominated play in the second half and claimed a convincing 70-50 win over Augsburg College in St. Peter, Minn. on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties posted their fourth consecutive win, while the Auggies were tagged with their 13th consecutive loss. Phil Sowden led Gustavus with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
Augsburg played good, aggressive basketball early in the contest and led 11-8 at the 14:05 mark of the first half. Gustavus, which made only one of its first six shots, used a jumper by Phil Sowden and a three-point basket by Mike DesLaurier to take its first lead of the game at 13-11 with 11:29 left to play in the first half. The lead changed hands four times over the next five minutes. Grant Hemmingsen hit a jumper for Augsburg to tie the score at 24-24 at the 4:41 mark, but :15 seconds later Trevor Wittwer scored to give the Gusties a 26-24 lead. The Auggies would not be able to regain the lead the rest of the game. Gustavus took a slim 32-29 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
The Gusties scored the first four points of the second half to push their lead to seven at 36-29. Augsburg stayed close and cut the lead to four at 38-34 on three free throws by Charlie Scott at the 15:42 mark. However, Gustavus broke free for an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 12 at 46-34 with 13:11 remaining and the Gusties would maintain their double- digit lead the rest of the contest. Augsburg stopped the run with two free throws by Kevin Keto, but then Gustavus reeled off eight straight points to extend its lead to 18 at 54-36 with 9:20 left to play. The Auggies immediately countered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead back to ten at 54-44, but Gustavus stopped the run with a three-point basket by Adam TeBrake and extended its lead to 22 points before finishing the game with a 20-point 70-50 victory.
Sowden and TeBrake led Gustavus with 18 points each. No other Gustavus player was in double figures. Augsburg was led in scoring by Charlie Scott with 12 points. The Gusties shot 55.6 percent from the field (25-45) and 60.0 percent from three-point range (9-15), while the Auggies shot 36.0 percent from the field (18-50) and 13.3 percent from three-point range (2-15). Gustavus out-rebounded Augsburg 34-20.
Gustavus improves to 17-6 overall and 12-6 in the MIAC, while Augsburg falls to 3-20 overall and 2-16 in the MIAC. The Gusties will host Macalester on Wednesday, February 15 at 8:00 pm.