Kevin Sethre, Staff Writer

The Augsburg men’s basketball team won back to back games on the road at Hamline and Macalester, clinching a spot in the MIAC playoffs for the fifth straight season.

The Auggies first traveled to St. Paul on February 12 and beat the Pipers 91-78. Booker Coplin scored a game-leading 37 points to go with nine rebounds, and Carter Duncan added 17 points and ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Augsburg had a good night from beyond the arc, shooting 11 for 27 on three-pointers with eight of those 11 threes coming in the first half. They also did a great job on the glass, outrebounding Hamline 25-18 and scoring 19-second chance points on 11 offensive boards. The game marked Augsburg’s tenth straight win over the Pipers, and also clinched a MIAC playoff berth for the Auggies. 

Augsburg returned to St Paul on Saturday the 15th, this time beating Macalester thanks to another great night of three-point shooting. Augsburg went 8 for 21 from three-point land, with Jack Sorenson going 4 for 6 on his own and scoring 19 points. Coplin also contributed 19 points to go with seven rebounds and eight assists. Joe Palmer also finished the game in double digits, scoring 14 in the contest.

With the season wrapping up, Coplin leads the MIAC with 23.4 points per game and is fourth in the conference with 8.1 rebounds. The team is full of impressive shooters who have hit an impressive 38.1% of three-pointers, which has resulted in the Auggies scoring 81.9 points per game, good for second in the MIAC.

Augsburg ends the season by hosting Gustavus Adolphus, who is currently tied with St. Olaf for the sixth and final spot in the playoffs, so the Gusties will be playing with their season on the line when they come to Si Melby Hall at 1:00 this Saturday.