Box ScoreDave Medema scored a career-high 20 points to help Augustana to an 84-80 victory over North Dakota Saturday night at the Elmen Center.
The victory snaps an 8-game North Central Conference losing streak for the Vikings and an 8-game overall losing streak. Augustana is now 8-13 overall and 1-5 in the NCC. North Dakota drops to 18-5 overall and 4-2 in the NCC.
Medema, a junior guard from Sioux Falls, was 7-for-8 from the field for the game, including 4-for-4 from 3-point range. He scored 15 points in the first half, but it was his five second half points that were big.
With UND leading 77-76, Medema drained a 3-pointer with 3 minutes remaining to give the Vikings the lead for good at 79-77.
After
Joey Ryan made 1 of 2 free throws with 31 seconds left, Medema grabbed the rebound off a missed UND 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play. He then sank both free throws to make the score 82-77.
Evan Lindahl's 3-pointer cut the margin to 82-80, but
James Borom hit two free throws with 2 seconds left to secure the win.
Medema's hot shooting helped Augustana overcome a 15-point first-half deficit. Trailing 29-14, Augustana went on a 23-5 run to take a 37-34 lead with with 6 minutes left in the first half. Medema fueled the rally with 11 points.
Moments later, with the score tied at 39, the Fighting Sioux closed the half with an 8-2 run to lead 47-41 at halftime.
UND led by as many as 8 in the second half but could not shake the Vikings, who grabbed their first lead of the second half on a 3-pointer by
Nick Olson with 5:35 left to play, making the score 74-73.
Olson joined Medema in double figures with 14 points, while
Mike Klepatz added 10.
Caro Nobles led four UND players in double digits with 20 points. Todd Rypkema poured in 19 points, while Keith Parks and Lindahl added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Augustana will be back in action on Wednesday at Minnesota-Duluth for an 8 p.m. contest.
