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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John's senior Andy Burns (Shorewood, Minn./Minnetonka) hit his second game-winning jumper of the season to give the Johnnies a 47-45 win at Augsburg in the MIAC Playoff Quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in Minneapolis.
The win, coupled with a 77-58 Bethel victory at St. Olaf, sends the Johnnies to face No. 2 seed Gustavus Adolphus this Friday, Feb. 24. The semifinal game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Gus Young Court in St. Peter.
A three-pointer from junior Chris Neumann (Winsted, Minn./Holy Trinity) gave the Johnnies (16-10, 11-9 MIAC) a six point lead (45-39) with 1:31 remaining. Augsburg (16-10, 13-7 MIAC) tied it with 25 seconds left on three-pointers from Tyler Schmidt and Andy Seidlitz.
Unlike his game-winning, 15-foot jumper against Hamline Feb. 4, Burns drove right and laid a short one-handed jumper off the glass as the horn sounded.
Defense owned the night as SJU shot only 34.0 percent (18-for-53) to the Auggies' 33.3 percent (14-for-42). Augsburg jumped out to a 10-point lead (13-3) before the Johnnies went on a 9-0 run to bring it to within one with fewer than 10 minutes left in the first half. Burns hit a jumper with five seconds remaining in the opening half to send both teams to the locker rooms tied at 21-21.
Burns opened the second half with a three-pointer, which seemed to spark SJU and give the visitors control for much of the second half. The Johnnies led by as much as nine (37-28) with 7:34 left, but the Auggies chipped away until Seidlitz tied the game with a trey at 45-45.
The Auggies out-rebounded the Johnnies by a 47-14 margin the last time the teams met, a 65-49 Augsburg win in Collegeville, including 18 offensive rebounds. Augsburg tallied a 20-5 advantage in second-chance points in the game. This game was a bit different, however, as SJU posted a 34-33 advantage on the glass with 15 offensive rebounds.
Both teams left six points at the free-throw line, though Augsburg gained an edge with 13 points off eight SJU turnovers.
Burns led the Johnnies with 14 points and added six assists, while classmate Aaron Barmore (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) tallied his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Burns' 14 points brought his career total to 1,052, which enabled him to pass Steve Ward (1971-75) and Mark Lenss (1974-78) and move into 28th on the school's all-time scoring list. He needs six points Friday, his 100th career start, to pass Ryan Lieser (2005-08) for 27th and 14 total to jump Kevin Coleman (1968-72) for 26th.
Junior Chris Orgas (Lakeville, Minn./North) collected six rebounds, all on the offensive glass, while Neumann tallied eight of the Johnnies' 17 bench points.
Schmidt led the Auggies with 14 points on a perfect 4-for-4 night from behind the arc. Andy Grzesiak-Grimm grabbed 10 rebounds but was held to five points on 2-for-10 shooting. He entered the game averaging 15.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for SJU at Augsburg and avenged 15- and 16-point losses to the Auggies during the regular season.
With the win, head coach Jim Smith improves to 743-520 in 48 seasons at SJU. He is now 51-50 all-time against the Auggies, including a 20-32 record in Minneapolis. Smith, however, is now 4-1 against Augsburg in the MIAC Playoffs (3-1 at Si Melby Hall).
