Box score
In a rough and grinding Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference game, the Augustana men's basketball team saw a first half lead dissipate against Minnesota Duluth, as the Bulldogs were able to hold on in the final seconds to beat the Vikings 62-59 Saturday night in the Elmen Center.
With 17 seconds to play and the score at 58-56 in favor of the Bulldogs,
Marques Blank made a key steal, but seconds later the ball was stolen back to seal the victory for Duluth.
It was the first home loss of the season for the Vikings and snapped a five-game winning streak, as the team now sits at 9-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while the Bulldogs improved to 11-5 overall and 5-1 in the NSIC.
In a tough defensive battle, both teams got off to a slow start to the game, with both teams tied at four points apiece at the 15:03 mark of the first half. Both teams would also start the game shooting 2-for-10 from the field.
In the next two and a half minutes, the Vikings would go on a 7-0 run to take an 11-4 lead, but the Bulldogs would have a run of their own to bring it back to within two at 17-to-15 with six minutes to go in the half. But the Vikings would own the lead the entire half, and went into the locker room with a 24-19 lead.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half with the teams combining for just 14 made baskets. The Vikings shot 33 percent on 8-of-24 shooting, while the Bulldogs struggled even more at 23 percent on 6-of-25 shooting.
Lee Stephens score a team-high seven points in the first half while grabbing two rebounds and in just seven minutes of playing time,
Eric Krogman scored four points and grabbed six rebounds.
The offense would pick up in the second half as both teams exchanged baskets back and forth for the first five minutes, which would lead to the Bulldogs first lead of the game at the 14:31 mark of the second half on a three point play by John Vaudreuil to put the score at 34-32 in favor of Duluth.
From that point on, the teams would continue to go back and forth at each other battling through seven lead changes and two ties before the Bulldogs would earn their largest lead at 55-49 with 2:30 to play in the game.
The Bulldogs would outscore the Vikings 43-to-35 in the second half of play with the Vikings finishing the night shooting 38 percent on 21-of-56 shooting, while the Bulldogs rallied to shoot 39 percent on 20-of-52 shooting.
Stephens would lead all Vikings in scoring with 20 points while grabbing six rebounds. Krogman would finish the night with a double-double scoring 11 points while grabbing 10 rebounds.
Brian Sykora recorded a double-double for Duluth with 15 points and 12 rebounds on the night.
In a losing effort, Augie held on to outrebound their opponent for the 12th straight game of season with a 35-33 advantage.
Augustana will be on back on the road next week to take on Minnesota State Moorhead at 8 p.m. Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.
