Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — There's something about playing Augsburg that brings out the best in Saint Mary's University's Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.).

A year ago, the Cardinal men's basketball team swept its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference series against the Auggies, winning 61-56 and 84-71 — with Haywood leading the charge, scoring 22 points in the first win and 17 in the second.

Haywood was at his best against the Auggies again Saturday afternoon, as the Cardinal senior netted a team-high 18 points.

This time around, however, Haywood wasn't able to carry the Cardinals to victory, as Augsburg used a 43-32 second-half performance to break open a two-point game and lead the Auggies to an 83-73 win at the SMU Gym.

"We've struggled to come out and play with energy the last couple of games, but I thought today we were more energized — especially in the first half," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose team has now dropped four straight, including a 77-49 decision against Carleton on Wednesday. "But in the second half, we lost some of that energy, and (Augsburg) took advantage of that."

The Auggies had the upper hand for most of the first half, building leads as big as nine, 19-10, before the Cardinals closed out the opening 20 minutes with a 31-21 run to take a 41-40 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The second half, however, belong to the Auggies, as Augsburg shot 48 percent from the field (13-for-27) and knocked down 11 of 14 free throw attempts to ice the win.

"We have got to find a way to hang on to the lead after halftime," said Trewick, whose team has now led at the half in three of its last four games — 31-30 vs. St. Olaf, 39-36 vs. Gustavus and 41-40 vs. Augsburg — and has lost all three. "The first half hasn't been the problem, it's finishing the deal that has been our Achilles' heel."

The Auggies' trio of Jon Cassens, Chuck Scott, and Dan Graf proved to be a three-man wrecking crew, as they combined for 63 of Augsburg's 83 points. Cassens netted a game-high 26 points, while Scott added 22 and Graf chipped in 15. Along with Haywood's 18, the Cardinals also got 12 points from both Brad Knights (Plainfield, Wis.) and Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.).

"It's not that we played that poorly," said Trewick. "In fact, we probably played well enough to win — we just didn't get the job done, it's that simple."