Ben Van Thorre (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn./Washburn HS) added 20 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals for Macalester, now 11-6 overall and 10-2 in the MIAC. The Scots, in pursuit of their first MIAC title since the 1980-81 season, remain in second place in the MIAC, a game in the loss column behind conference-leader Gustavus (14-4, 12-1 MIAC). Macalester has won its last six games in a row and 10 of its last 11 games.
Marcus "Rico" Gholson (Sr., Gary, Ind./William A. Wirt HS) scored a career-high 29 points, adding eight rebounds and three steals, to pace Augsburg, now 6-12 overall and 3-10 in MIAC play. Augsburg dropped its fourth straight game and ninth in its last 10 starts.
Macalester led by a 40-33 margin at halftime and held off several Augsburg comebacks in the second half. The lead changed hands 10 times in the game to go with eight ties -- seven times for each in the second half.
A 9-0 run in the first 1:44 of the second half gave Augsburg just its second lead of the game, 42-40. Lucas Olson-Patterson (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn./Robbinsdale Cooper HS) had a banked-in three-pointer and Yarzue Slowon (Jr., Crystal, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) had four points in the Auggie run.
Olson-Patterson scored his fifth double-double of the season for the Auggies, scoring 26 points and adding 10 rebounds. The effort marked his fourth 20-point game of the season and his 13th double-figure game of his 16 played this season.
Macalester answered the 9-0 Auggie run with a 15-2 sprint of its own later in the second half to take a 57-49 lead with 13:02 remaining. Assel had 10 points in the 15-2 run, hitting two of his four 3-pointers in the game in the stretch.
Another run by Augsburg, a 10-2 sprint, tied the game for the sixth time at 59-59 with 10:18 left. Casey Zilka (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) scored all five of his points in the 10-2 run, connecting on a three-pointer and converting a jumper on consecutive possessions.
The game stayed close the rest of the way, but Macalester edged ahead in the closing minutes, taking advantage of three 3-pointers by Erik Jackson (Jr., Evergreen, Colo.) in the final seven minutes. Jackson ended up with 15 points in the game, hitting 5-of-10 from three-point range. Jackson added six assists for the Scots.
As a team, Macalester connected on 11-of-25 from beyond the three-point arc (44.0 percent), while Augsburg hit 7-of-14 (50.0 percent) from long range. Macalester also took advantage of 16 Augsburg turnovers, converting them into 26 points. By contrast, Augsburg had just nine points off of 10 Macalester turnovers.
Augsburg outrebounded Macalester by a 47-30 margin, taking advantage of 19 offensive rebounds to score 22 second-chance points to Macalester's 11.
Forward Adam Denny (Sr., Preston, Minn./Fillmore Central HS) had a solid all-around game for the Scots, one of four players in double figures with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and five steals. Wes McFarland (Jr., Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View HS) and Brendan Bosman (So., Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest HS) had seven points apiece.
Slowon had seven points, six rebounds and four assists for the Auggies.
Both teams return to action on Saturday (1/31) at 3 p.m., with Augsburg playing at St. John's and Macalester hosting Concordia-Moorhead.
Macalester College vs Augsburg College 01/28/04 7:30 p.m. at Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. At Si Melby Hall, Minneapolis, Minn. MACALESTER COLLEGE 86, AUGSBURG COLLEGE 81 MACALESTER COLLEGE (11-6, 10-2 MIAC) Chris Assel 8-16 2-2 22; Ben Van Thorre 6-11 8-10 20; Erik Jackson 5-12 0-0 15; Adam Denny 5-8 2-3 12; Brendan Bosman 3-10 0-0 7; Wes McFarland 3-4 1-1 7; Will Moeller 1-2 0-0 3; Lars Johnson 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-65 13-16 86. AUGSBURG COLLEGE (6-12, 3-10 MIAC) Marcus Gholson 10-19 7-10 29; LucasOlson-Patterson 9-21 6-9 26; Yarzue Slowon 2-6 3-4 7; Dan Graf 2-6 0-0 5; Jonathan Gholson 2-6 0-0 5; Casey Zilka 2-3 0-0 5; Zac Rosen 1-2 0-0 2; Joshua Klem 1-1 0-0 2; Kevin Keto 0-1 0-0 0; Grant Hemmingsen 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 16-23 81. Macalester College............ 40 46 - 86 Augsburg College.............. 33 48 - 81 3-point goals-Macalester College 11-25 (Erik Jackson 5-10; Chris Assel 4-9; Will Moeller 1-2; Brendan Bosman 1-2; Lars Johnson 0-1; Ben Van Thorre 0-1), Augsburg College 7-14 (LucasOlson-Patterson 2-3; Marcus Gholson 2-4; Dan Graf 1-3; Casey Zilka 1-1; Jonathan Gholson 1-1; Zac Rosen 0-1; Yarzue Slowon 0-1). Fouled out--Macalester College-None, Augsburg College-None. Rebounds-Macalester College 30 (Adam Denny 9), Augsburg College 47 (LucasOlson-Patterson 10). Assists-Macalester College 23 (Ben Van Thorre 6; Erik Jackson 6), Augsburg College 19 (Yarzue Slowon 4; Kevin Keto 4). Total fouls-Macalester College 21, Augsburg College 14. A-189