NORTHFIELD, Minn. – After rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit, the St. Olaf College men's basketball team had a last-second tip-in waved off at the buzzer, as Augsburg University escaped with a 75-74 victory over the Oles on Wednesday evening at Skoglund Center.
Down by one with 0.2 seconds remaining, St. Olaf (8-9, 5-7 MIAC) set up an in-bounds play underneath the basket and lobbed the ball to senior
Troy Diggins Jr. in the paint. Using a motion like a volleyball set, Diggins Jr. two-handed tapped the ball into the basket but it was waved off, as Augsburg (12-4, 8-3 MIAC) picked up its second last-second win in the last three meetings in the series.
St. Olaf trailed 56-39 with 15:50 remaining before coming all the way back to take the lead on a pair of free throws by Diggins Jr. with 2:35 to play. Augsburg made four-straight free throws on its next two possessions to go back ahead by three before senior
Nate Albers sank a pair at the line with 1:29 to go to make it a one-point game.
With the Auggies up one with the ball, junior
Dominic Bledsoe took a charge to give the Oles a chance at the win on the final possession. St. Olaf missed a pair of three-pointers but got a pair of offensive rebounds to set up the final sequence with 0.2 on the clock.
Senior
Noah Beck led St. Olaf with 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting to go with six rebounds, while Diggins Jr. had 16 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Bledsoe dished out nine assists and had four steals while playing all 40 minutes.
Both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in the opening half, as Augsburg took a 43-37 lead at the break. The Auggies made 13 of their first 21 shots to open up a 30-19 lead with 8:42 left in the half. After trailing by 12 with 2:52 remaining, the Oles made their final four shots of the half as part of a closing 9-3 run to cut their deficit to six.
Augsburg scored the first 10 points of the second half to stretch its lead to 16, 53-37, with 16:31 to play. The Auggies took their largest lead of the night, 56-39, on a three-pointer by Carik with 15:50 remaining before the Oles fought their way back.
Trailing 71-60 with 5:29 on the clock, a three-pointer by first year
Charlie Haff started a 12-0 run over a three-minute stretch that gave St. Olaf a 72-71 lead with 2:35 to go. The run ended with the pair of Diggins Jr. free throws that put the Oles ahead for the first time since the score was 7-6 2:09 in.
Matt Carik paced the Auggies with 18 points, making four three-pointers on a 7-for-14 shooting night. St. Olaf limited Booker Coplin, the MIAC's leading scorer, to 13 points on 5-for-15 from the field. James Streeter provided 16 points and seven boards off the Augsburg bench.
St. Olaf hosts Saint Mary's University on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. in the first half of a doubleheader against the Cardinals.
