Box Score
The Augustana men's basketball team opened the 2009-10 season with a strong all-around effort in routing Jamestown 82-61 Sunday afternoon at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings (1-0) got a strong inside performance from
Lee Stephens, solid all-around play from
Cody Schilling and sharp outside shooting from Kenny Brown and
Cameron McCaffrey to pick up the season-opening victory in front of 1,850 fans.
Augustana, who never trailed in the contest, used a series of big runs to pull away from the Jimmies. The Vikings opened the game with a 12-5 run, fueled by 6 points from Stephens, who scored 17 points in just 17 minutes of action.
Midway through the first half, the Vikings led 20-12 before Stephens scored 7 points during a 10-outburst that pushed the lead to 30-12 with 6:50 to play in the first half. Augie maintained that lead until Jamestown scored the final 5 points of the half to make the score 41-29 at halftime.
Augustana cranked up its defense at the outset of the second half. The Vikings outscored Jamestown 17-7 to start the half, including a 9-0 run in the middle of the rally, to open up a 58-36 lead with 12:30 left in the contest. Schilling scored 6 of his game-high 21 points in the rally, while Brown buried back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the run.
McCaffrey and Brown each canned 3-pointers and Schilling scored 4 more points to take a 31-point lead at 69-38 with 7:25 left on the clock. Augie's largest lead of the game was 77-45 with just under 5 minutes to play.
The Vikings shot just under 47 percent from the field for the game, connecting on 30 of 64 field goals. In addition, Augustana took good care of the basketball as the Vikings had 23 assists compared to just 9 turnovers. Conversely, Jamestown turned the ball over 27 times.
While Schilling led all scorers with 21 points, Stephens finished with 17, including 13 in the first half. He was 6 of 8 from the field. For Brown and McCaffrey, it was an impressive debut for the freshmen. Brown scored 17 points, while McCaffrey added 10 points. Combined they were 7-for-12 from 3-point range.
Hans Hoeg and Dustin Herrmann led Jamestown with 12 points apiece.
Augustana returns to action on Wednesday when the Vikings take on the University of Sioux Falls in the Third Annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena.
