Box Score
Freshman Cody Schilling dominated the end of the first and second halves to help lead Augustana to an 80-74 victory over Minnesota State University Moorhead Friday night in Moorhead, Minn.
Schilling, a 6-foot-5 guard from Ellsworth, Minn., poured in a career-high 29 points, which matched a season high for a Viking this season, but it was what he did at the end of each half that helped the Vikings improve to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. MSU Moorhead, meawhile, slipped to 4-8 overall and 1-6 in the NSIC.
Augustana never trailed in the game, but the Vikings could never rest easy until the final seconds. Augie led by as many as 15 points, 69-54, with 11 minutes to play in the game, and later led 75-64 with just under five minutes left on the clock. But the Dragons fought back, scoring 10 unanswered points to make it a 75-74 game with 2:09 to play.
Schilling took over from there as he scored the final 5 points of the game on 5 of 6 shooting from the free throw line.
Schilling's performance down the stretch was an encore to what he accomplished in the first half. Schilling, whose previous career high was 21 points, nearly matched that total in the first half as he netted 20 of Augie's 50 points in the stanza. Schilling made 6 of 7 field goals, including 3 3-pointers, and 5 of 6 free throws to stake the Vikings to a 50-40 halftime advantage.
Augustana, which raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first 3 minutes of the game, saw the Dragons make a charge late in the half, closing to within three at 39-36 with 3:20 left before intermission.
But Schilling had the answer as he scored Augustana's final 11 points of the period to trigger an 11-4 Viking surge to close out the half.
Augustana shot 53 percent from the field in the first half, connecting on 18 of 34 field goal attempts. MSU Moorhead also shot well, making 14 of 34 attempts (42 percent). For the game, Augustana shot 44 percent (26 of 59) while the Dragons shot 39 percent (24 of 62) from the floor.
Three other Vikings joined Schilling in double figures. Eric Krogman scored 13 points, while David Foster poured in 10 points and Marques Blank 10. Krogman recorded his fifth double-double of the season by grabbing 16 rebounds, which matched his career high. That effort helped the Vikings outrebound the Dragons by a 46-33 margin.
Grant Fossum led MSUM with 15 points off the bench, while Justyn Burgess added 14 points and Jake Driscoll scored 10 points.
Augustana will go for the weekend sweep on Saturday when the Vikings travel to the University of Minnesota, Crookston, for an 8 p.m. contest.
