Box Score
Bolstered by the support of the largest crowd of the season, the Augustana men's basketball team outshot Winona State to defeat the 16th-ranked Warriors 88-72 Saturday night in front of 3,032 fans at the Elmen Center.
As a result of the win, Augustana took over first place in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference with a 7-2 league record. The Vikings are now 13-3 as they won their fourth-straight game and ninth game in their last 10 outings. Winona State, the defending national champions, slipped to 14-5 overall and 7-3 in the NSIC.
All five Viking starters scored in double figures, but it was
Marques Blank who stole the night. The senior point guard from Holmen, Wis., scored a career-high 23 points as he made 8 of 11 field goal attempts, including all 3 shots from 3-point range. He was also a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.
Blank was the Augustana catalyst in the second half as he scored 16 points on 5 of 6 shooting. That effort was contagious as the Vikings shot 58 percent (18 of 31) from the field over the final 20 minutes. Augustana needed to shoot well to keep pace with Winona State, which shot a respectable 52 percent (15 of 29) from the field in the second half.
Augustana led 38-32 at halftime and steadily increased its lead to 10 points at 52-42 with just under 15 minutes to play in the game. Although the Vikings stretched the lead to 12 points on two occasions, Winona State fought back, eventually pulling to within 6 at 63-57 with 8:17 on the clock.
Moments later, Ben Fischer converted a layup to make the score 66-59 with 7:45 remaining. That is when the Vikings put the game out of reach as Augie scored 11 unanswered points over the next 3:20 to extend its advantage to 77-59 with 4:24 to play.
Blank was a driving force in the surge as he scored 7 points during the rally.
However, WSU knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to stay within striking distance at 79-65 with just over 3 minutes on the clock, but a jumper and 3-pointer by Blank and a layup by
David Foster gave the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 86-65 with 2 minutes left.
The first half saw the two teams match each other shot for shot. Augustana got off to a quick 9-2 lead less than 3 minutes into the game. However, following a WSU timeout, the Warriors buried 3 3-pointers during a 13-2 run to take a 15-11 lead with 13:11 left in the half.
The lead grew to 22-15 when David Johnson drained another trey with 9:20 remaining in the period. But Augustana countered with 7 unanswered points to knot the score at 22-22 with just over 8 minutes remaining in the half.
Johnson drained his third 3-pointer of the half to put WSU in front 30-27 with 5 minutes left in the half, but the Vikings dominated the rest of the half as they used an 11-2 run to lead 38-32 at intermission. Blank led the way with 5 points.
Augustana finished the night shooting 55 percent (34 of 62) from the field, including 8 of 16 from 3-point range. The Vikings also made all 12 of their free throw attempts. WSU, meanwhile, shot 45 percent (27 of 60) from the field and 44 percent (14 of 32) from 3-point range. The Warriors were percect on all 4 of their charity tosses.
After Blank's 23 points, the Vikings had balanced scoring. Foster,
Cody Schilling and
Lee Stephens all scored 12 points, while
Eric Krogman finished with 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Blank added a game-high 6 assists and 2 steals while not committing a turnover.
For the Warriors, Travis Whipple poured in a team-high 16 points, while Johnson finished with 12.
Augustana goes on the road next week when the Vikings play at Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night and at Minnesota State University, Mankato on Saturday.
