Dylan Aylward missed a jump shot in the paint fighting off contact with 0:02 seconds remaining, then the last tip-in attempt off an inbounds pass also didn't go as Augsburg College held off Nebraska Wesleyan, 60-59, in championship game of the 22nd Annual Snyder Classic on Saturday night (Nov. 27) at Snyder Arena in Lincoln.
NWU trailed by ten points at halftime, and didn't score for nearly the first five minutes of the second half. The strong NWU defense kept them in the game and two freshmen off the bench sparked the Prairie Wolves rally.
Guard Jonah Bradley hit the first field goal of the second half, then Eric Jackson scored five straight points to cut the Auggie lead to four.
NWU could not quite get even until the 3:17 mark as Andy Schweitzer hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 52-52. Jackson then hit a driving layup down the middle of the paint to give NWU their first lead of the game at 54-52 with 2:19 to play.
Augsburg took the lead right back on a 3-point play by Brett Sorenson. On the next possession, Jackson found Bryce Arp under the basket to put NWU up 56-55.
Matthew Quammen hit the first of his two big baskets of the game as he nailed a 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining to put Augsburg up 58-56,
Once again, it was a NWU freshman that stepped up as Bradley calmly drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 42 seconds left to give NWU a 59-58 lead.
The game-winning basket would come from Quammen as he banked in a 15-foot jump shot with 26 seconds remaining for the 60-59 win.
Augsburg remains perfect on the season as they improve to 4-0 overall, while NWU falls to 3-2.
Quammen led all scorers with 16 points and was named the Tournament MVP. Andy Grzesiak-Grimm had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and also was selected to the All-Tournament team.
For NWU, Bradley and Jackson both scored 12 points to lead the Prairie Wolves. Dylan Aylward added 11 points for the Prairie Wolves, with Bryce Arp scoring eight.
Arp and Bradley were named to the All-Tournament team for NWU. Also on the team were Channing Coffey from Presentation and Jake Vislay from Westminster
