MOORHEAD – St. Olaf sophomore Austin Majeskie was playing a few miles away from where his dad starred in college in the 1980s. He responded with a stellar performance.
Majeskie scored a career-high 22 points to spark the Oles to a 72-48 victory against Concordia on Monday in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s basketball at Memorial Auditorium.
“I’ve heard a lot about him when he was playing in college so it was kind of cool to come up here and kind of play in his old stomping grounds,” said Majeskie, who also grabbed 10 rebounds.
Austin’s father, Dennis Majeskie, played at North Dakota State from 1982-86, averaging double-digit scoring in each of his final two seasons with the Bison. Dennis was an All-North Central Conference selection in 1985 and 1986 and finished his career with more than 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
“He doesn’t talk about it unless somebody asks him about it,” Austin said of his father’s NDSU career. “He’s pretty humble.”
The Cobbers (8-6, 4-5 MIAC) have lost three of their past four games. They shot 36 percent (20 of 55) from the field against St. Olaf, which is tied for first place in the MIAC with St. Thomas.
“Against this team, which is very good, you’ve got to score points,” Cobbers head coach Rich Glas said. “We’re just not sustaining our offense right now.”
The Cobbers tied the game at 10-10 after junior forward Brady Syverson scored from close range with 13 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first half. However, St. Olaf countered with the next 12 points, holding Concordia scoreless for more than six minutes.
The 6-foot-7 Majeskie sparked that Oles rally, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 12:36 remaining in the half to give his team the lead for good. St. Olaf built a 22-10 advantage after senior forward Mason Braden scored an inside basket with 9:23 remaining until halftime.
“I think our defense really turned up,” said Majeskie, who went to high school in Mankato, Minn. “We started pressuring harder.”
Majeskie had 12 points by halftime on 3-for-4 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 shooting from the foul line. Coming off the bench, Majeskie scored his game-high point total in 24 minutes.
“He killed us tonight,” Glas said.
Dennis, who now lives in Chicago, was in the Memorial Auditorium crowd Monday to watch Austin play. St. Olaf took a 38-22 lead into halftime its lead never dipped into single digits in the second half. The Cobbers shot 29 percent (9 of 31) from the floor in the first half and could never recover from that slow start.
“Their defense is pretty good so we had some tougher shots,” Glas said. “We have to shoot it better. It has really been a struggle for us.”
Syverson led the Cobbers with 12 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. He was the lone Concordia player to reach double digits in scoring.
“Our guys always will battle,” Glas said. “We just have to play better. … We have to search for that group of guys that will go out there and execute consistently. Defensively, we’ve been pretty doggone good.”
ST. OLAF (13-1, 8-1 MIAC): Daly 3-5 0-0 6, Figini 6-15 1-4 13, Nielsen 3-8 4-4 11, Pahl 0-6 0-0 0, Aeikens 1-1 2-2 4, Lunning 0-1 0-0 0, O’Dorsio 1-1 0-0 2, Lagus 0-0 0-0 0, Gelle 0-0 0-0 0, Majeskie 7-9 5-6 22, Katuka 0-1 0-0 0, Tobroxen 1-2 0-0 2, Braden 6-7 0-0 12. Totals 28-56 12-16 72.
CONCORDIA (8-6, 4-5): Syverson 6-9 0-1 12, Bolger 3-11 0-2 6, Rude 0-0 0-0 0, Giese 3-8 0-0 8, Nelson 1-6 0-0 2, Alderman 1-1 2-2 5, Fraase 0-2 1-2 1, Ellingson 0-0 0-0 0, Bruggeman 0-2 0-0 0, Abbas 1-2 0-0 2, Bergeson 1-3 0-0 3, Deutsch 3-4 0-0 7, Flotterud 0-3 0-0 0, Zimmer 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 20-55 3-8 48.
Half: SO 38, CC 22. 3-point goals: SO 4-10 (Nielsen 1-2, Pahl 0-3, Majeskie 3-5), CC 5-13 (Giese 2-4, Nelson 0-2, Alderman 1-1, Fraase 0-1, Abbas 0-1, Bergeson 1-2, Deutsch 1-2). Total fouls: SO 11, CC 14. Rebounds: SO 38 (Majeskie 10), CC 32 (Bolger 7). Assists: SO 14 (Aeikens 6), CC 8 (Rude 2, Giese 2). Steals: SO 5 (five players with 1), CC 5 (five players with 1). Turnovers: SO 6 (Aeikens 2, Tobroxen 2), CC 12 (Anderson 2). A-280.
