Kevin Sethre, staff writer

After opening the season with an easy win over Crown College on Nov. 10, the Augsburg Mens basketball team played in two very close games in a row. They fell 75-74 in overtime to UW-La Crosse on Nov. 17 before rebounding with a 69-66 win over Hamline University on Nov. 20.

After shooting 35.7% from the field and only making two of their 14 attempted three-pointers in the first half, the Auggies trailed the Eagles by 18 at the half. The cold shooting continued at the beginning of the second half, and they soon found themselves trailing by 23 with 15:26 left in the game. They began slowly chipping away, but they still trailed by 11 with 4:20 left in the game. After that, an incredible 13-2 run capped off by a Joe Palmer three-pointer tied the game at 66 with 1:39 left and the two teams traded layups in the final 90 seconds to send the game to overtime with the score tied at 68. The extra five minutes were back-and-forth, and Augsburg led by three before La Crosse tied it at the 1:43 mark. Palmer made a free throw to put the Auggies ahead again with 22 seconds left, but the Eagles hit a buzzer-beater for the win. Palmer scored 21 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double to start the season after scoring 25 and getting 10 rebounds during the season-opening win at Crown.

After the disappointing loss, Augsburg responded well against the Pipers during their game in St. Paul. They came out hot and shot 41.18% from three-point range on their way to a 39-26 halftime lead. Hamline closed the gap during the second half, but the Auggies were able to hold on to secure the victory in their opening game of conference play. Jack Sorenson led the way for Augsburg and made six three-pointers on his way to 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Palmer contributed 19 points and seven rebounds, and Bradley Winter grabbed a game-high twelve rebounds for the Auggies. With the win, Augsburg extended their winning streak against the Pipers to 12 consecutive games, with their last loss against Hamline coming on Feb. 16, 2015.

Through the first three games of the season, Palmer is second in the MIAC with 21.7 points and nine rebounds per game, and he has the fifth-highest field goal percentage in the conference at 62.5%.

After returning from Fall break, the Auggies will continue their conference schedule by hosting St. Scholastica on Dec. 1 at 7 PM. It will be the first game between Augsburg and the Saints, who joined the conference this season, since Dec. 15, 2007, when the Auggies won 84-72 at Si Melby Hall. Augsburg has won 14 of the 20 all-time meetings between the two schools.