Blue Storm surges past Meramec in season opener

BY DEAN CRIDDLE - News-Democrat

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BELLEVILLE -- Back in the lineup for the first time in nearly two years, Southwestern Illinois College sophomore Mike Augustine still has his shooting touch.

Augustine scored 12 of his 20 points in the final seven minutes Wednesday to key a late Blue Storm surge as SWIC opened its season with a 66-62 win over Meramec.

A graduate of Waterloo High School, Augustine hit back-to-back 3-pointers to break a 56-all with under five minutes left then added a pair of layups as SWIC held off the Magic.

It was the first game action since the 2007-08 season for Augustine, who redshirted a year ago.

"One of the things Mike can do is shoot the basketball and except for a couple of bad shots, he came through and made big plays down the stretch for us tonight," Blue Storm assistant coach Steve Campo said. "We knew this would be a tough game because Meramec plays so hard and coach (Randy) Albrecht just does a great job in preparing his kids to play.

"It was choppy in spots, but I thought we played well in spurts. I would rather win ugly than lose."

Sophomore Mykel Cleveland added 10 points for SWIC, which was without sophomore All-American Kenny Leverette who was home with the flu.

Getting solid play early from freshmen Walter Hill and Torres Roundtree, SWIC led by as many as 11 points in the first half and by eight midway in the second half, before the Magic rallied.

With Dallas Johnson and Allen Hedzimahovic having their way on the inside against the Blue Storm's inexperienced big men, Meramec tied the game three times midway through the second half, the final time coming at 56-all on a basket by Johnson with less than six minutes remaining.

But Augustine buried a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor and added a reverse layup to give SWIC a 64-56 lead.

A basket by the Magic's Josh Dale cut the lead back to six points, but Augustine followed with a second layup following a steal by Roundtree near midcourt.

Johnson and Hedzimahovic paced Meramec with 17 points each.

Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2665 or dcriddle@bnd.com.

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