It was more of the same for the Austin boys' basketball team, which shot right around 40 percent from the field in a 52-41 loss at Owatonna Friday night.

The Packers fell to 6-12 overall and 3-10 in the Big Nine Conference with their fourth consecutive loss. Austin had a 10-8 lead entering the second quarter but the Packers tallied just four points in the period and fell behind the rest of the game.

"That was the game," said AHS coach Kris Fadness. "There's no new stories here, we can't shoot. We literally missed four or five point-blank layups in the second quarter."

Austin managed to cut Owatonna's lead to six during the fourth quarter, 45-39, but the host Huskies hit 9-of-11 free-throws down the stretch to seal the Big Nine win. Owatonna's Andrew Olson scored 19 points to lead all players.

"We gambled a couple times trying to steal some passes and he hit some some shots," Fadness said of Olson. "He hit 5-of-6 free-throws in the fourth quarter, and that made a big difference."

Austin's early lead fell to the wayside after leading scorer John Duren was held without a shot in the second period. Duren scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the first quarter.

"We talked about some of the things we wanted to improve on after the Mankato East game, and we came out in the second quarter and we didn't do those things," Fadness said. "But we played much better in the second half. We played with some fight."

The Packers clawed their way back into the game, but Olson and teammates were too good from the free-throw line with the lead already in hand.

Olson and Duren were the only players to score in double-digits for the game. Justin Barlow and Nick Leiferman tallied nine apiece for Owatonna, while Joey Kroc scored all of his eight points in the fourth period for the Pack.

Jon Bain returned to the Austin lineup for the first time since spraining his ankle two games ago. The starting center scored six points, but was "a little tentative" according to Fadness.

"We kept fighting, we kept battling, but at some point we've got to be able to put that ball in the basket," Fadness added. "When you're a poor shooting team, all your little mistakes stick out like a sore thumb."

The Packers play on the road again Tuesday night at Winona, which knocked off Mankato East in overtime Friday night. Austin took the Winhawks to double-overtime in their first meeting at Ove Berven Gym, losing 63-62.

Boxscore:

AUSTIN (41) -- Mike Tray 0, Joey Kroc 8, Kyle Rizzi 0, Tucker Schieck 2, Jon Bain 6, John Duren 14, Alex Kaiser 7, Jordan VanProosdy 4.

OWATONNA (52) -- Peter Olson 5, Bryan Bauck 3, Tim Churchill 4, Andrew Olson 19, Justin Barlow 9, Nick Leiferman 9, Mike Davidson 3.

Austin1041314--41

Owatonna8181115--52

Three-pointers--Austin 2 (Kroc, Kaiser); Owatonna 4 (A.Olson 2, Bauck, Leiferman).