Box Score
Augustana used its best shooting night of the season to roll past Concordia University, St. Paul 87-69 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action Friday night at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings improved to 14-5 on the season and 8-4 in the NSIC, while Concordia slipped to 8-11 and 6-6 in the league.
A week after enduring two of their worst shooting nights of the season in losses at Southwest Minnesota State and Minnesota State, the Vikings found the remedy on their home court. The Vikings shot a season-best 62.1 percent from the floor, connecting on 36 of 58 shots. Augie shot 40 percent from 3-point range (6 of 15) and was 9 of 10 from the free throw line.
Augustana was near perfect over the final 10 minutes of the first half as the Vikings began to put distance between themselves and the Golden Bears. While Augustana never trailed in the first half, the Vikings couldn't shake Concordia. After Augustana gained an 18-9 lead with just under 14 minutes to play in the half, CU responded with a 13-6 run to make it a 2-point game at 24-22 with 9:58 to play in the stanza.
That's when the trio of
Cody Schilling,
Eric Krogman and
Lee Stephens took over. The threesome combined to score 22 points as the Vikings outscored Concordia 29-13 to close out the half and take a 53-35 lead into the locker room.
Schilling scored 9 of his 13 first-half points, on 3 separate 3-point plays, during the rally, while Krogman poured in 7 of his 11 points. Stephens chipped in with 6 of his 10 first-half points.
The trio barely missed from the field in the opening 20 minutes, combining to make 14 of 15 shots. Schilling was perfect on all 5 of his field goal attempts, while Krogman made all 4 of his shots. Stephens, meanwhile, made 5 of 6 attempts. As a team, Augustana shot 67 percent from the field, making 22 of 33 shots.
In the second half, it was
David Foster who ignited the Vikings. After collecting a putback just before the first half horn, Foster scored 15 of his game-high 20 points after halftime.
Concordia tried to get back in the game, pulling within 15 points at 68-53 with 11:20 left in the game. However, Foster ignited an 11-0 with a 3-pointer and capped the surge with another trey and a short jumper to give the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 79-53 with 8:34 on the clock.
Six Vikings reached double figures, including all 5 starters. While Foster led the way with 20 points, Schilling and Krogman each tallied 13.
Marques Blank scored 11 points and Stephens chipped in with 10.
Mike Klepatz came off the bench to contribute 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting.
Augustana also enjoyed a large rebounding edge, outgaining the Golden Bears 37-20. Krogman and Schilling paced the Vikings with 8 boards apiece. Schilling also dished out a career-high 7 assists.
The Vikings, who are now in a three-way tie for fourth place in the NSIC and just 1 game out of first place, have a big game on Saturday. Augustana will take on St. Cloud State, who is tied with the Vikings in the league standings, in an 8 p.m. contest in the Elmen Center.