Box Score
The Augustana men's basketball team relied on its strong inside game in denying the University of Sioux Falls of its wish of an upset, downing the Cougars 75-70 Wednesday night in the Second Annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Augustana improved to 1-1 on the season after earning its seventh-straight win over USF. Meanwhile, Sioux Falls fell to 3-3.
The game, which was a charitable event that raised $5,176 for the Make A Wish Foundation, was a back and forth affair in the second half, featuring 5 ties and 9 lead changes.
Augustana, which trailed 35-31 at halftime, scored the first 5 points of the second half to take its first lead of the game at 36-35 with 17:40 left in the game.
From there, the Vikings went inside for its offense. The trio of
Mike Klepatz,
Lee Stephens and
Eric Krogman combined for 30 of Augustana's 44 second-half points as the Vikings gained control of the game.
Trailing 37-36, Stephens and Klepatz combined for 14 points in a 17-11 rally that saw the Vikings open up a 5-point advantage at 51-46 with 10:13 left on the clock.
Krogman made his presence felt later in the half. After USF closed to within 2 points at 65-63, Krogman converted a traditional 3-point play and sank 2 free throws to help Augie push the lead back to 5 at 70-65 with 3:27 remaining.
Augustana's
Elliot Thomas followed with an offensive putback on the Vikings' next possession to maintain the 5-point cushion with 1:53 left. After USF closed to 72-70, Thomas calmly sank a pair of free throws with 29 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game at 74-70.
USF's Thomas Frames then missed short jumpers on successive trips down the court and Krogman grabbed the rebounds to secure Vikings' 14th win in the last 15 meetings in the series.
In the first half, Sioux Falls never trailed, thanks in part to scoring the first 8 points of the game in the opening 1:13 of play.
The Vikings chipped away at the lead before tying the score at 30-30 on an inside bucket by Klepatz with just over 3 minutes to play in the half.
USF answered though with a 3-pointer by Matt Malloy and a basket by Luther Suggs to regain the lead at 35-30 with 51 seconds remaining in the stanza. The Cougars took a 35-31 lead into the intermission.
Although Augustana outshot the Cougars in the first half by a 38 percent to 35 percent, turnovers gave the Cougars extra chances. Augustana turned the ball over 10 times in the opening 20 minutes, while USF committed just 4 turnovers. As a result, USF took 37 field goals, compared to 29 for Augustana.
Augustana shot just under 52 percent in the second half, making 16 of 31 shots, to finish the game at 45 percent (27 of 60). USF connected on 10 of 25 field goals (40 percent) in the second half to finish at 37 percent. In addition, Augie forced USF into 11 turnovers in the second half.
Klepatz led five Vikings in double figures with 19 points, including 11 in the second half. Stephens was next with 18 points, including a dozen in the final 20 minutes, while Krogman and
Cody Schilling each scored 11. Thomas rounded out the group with 10 points.
Thomas and Krogman paced the Vikings with 9 rebounds apiece.
Frames led all scorers with 26 points for USF. Malloy and Adam Herther each scored 13 points for the Cougars.
Augustana returns to the court on Saturday when the Vikings entertain the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Elmen Center.
