Box Score
Augustana's balanced attack was too much for St. Cloud State as the Vikings defeated the ninth-ranked Huskies 89-80 Sunday night to conclude the NSIC Holiday Hoopsfest at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Augustana remained unbeaten on the young season, improving to 5-0. St. Cloud State, meanwhile, fell to 3-1.
The first half went back and forth. Augustana jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead on the strength of a 7-0 run. Later, with the Vikings leading 14-8, the Huskies scored straight points to take a 15-14 lead at the 10-minute mark.
From there the teams seemed to trade baskets as the final 10 minutes had 9 lead changes and 2 ties. In addition, neither team led by more than 4 points. SCSU took its largest lead at 22-19 with 7:15 remaining in the half. Augustana closed out the half by scoring the final 4 points of the period to lead 34-30 at the break after holding the Huskies scoreless for the final 2:54.
Augustana did most of its scoring driving to the basket. The Vikings made 10 of 25 shots in the half, but when they didn't convert, they went to the free throw line, where they converted 13 of 15 attempts.
St. Cloud State, on the other hand, rode the hot hand of Matt Schneck. The senior center scored the Huskies' first 8 points and finished with 16 first-half points.
Augustana kept the momentum at the outset of the second half. The Vikings held the Huskies to just 1 field goal in the first 3 minutes of the half as they doubled their lead to 8 points at 43-35 on a basket by
Cody Schilling with 17:08 to play.
Less than 2 minutes later,
Nathan Truex drained a baseline jumper to give the Vikings a 9-point lead at 49-40 with 15:22 to play.
But St. Cloud State didn't fold. Instead, the Huskies scored 7 straight points to trim the margin to 49-47 with 13:20 on the clock. Following 2 free throws by Augustana's
Lee Stephens, SCSU scored 5 unanswered points to cap a 12-2 run and take its first lead of the half at 52-51 with 11:30 remaining in the contest.
That's when things got interesting as the two teams began exchanging 3-pointers and 3-point plays. With 8:40 left on the clock, Augie's
Cameron McCaffrey converted a 3-point play to give the Vikings the lead for good at 62-59.
That play sparked a 10-3 Viking run as Augustana stretched its advantage to 69-62 with just over 6 minutes left in the game.
Following a basket by Schneck, Augustana then went on a 12-5 run to push its lead to double figures at 81-69 with 1:38 on the clock.
From there the Vikings made 8 out of 10 free throws to prevent a Husky comeback.
Augustana owned a small edge in shooting as they shot 42.6 percent (23 of 54) from the floor. St. Cloud State, meanwhile, shot just under 42 percent (28 of 67). The Vikings made the most of out their trips to the free throw line as they converted 38 of 46 charity tosses compared to SCSU's 17 of 29 attempts at the line.
Five Vikings scored in double figures. Stephens poured in a season-high 19 points, while McCaffrey ended with a career-high 18 points. Schilling, the team's leading scorer on the year, finished with 17 points, including 11 in the first half, and point guard
Jordan Dalton scored a career-high 16 points, including 10 in the second half.
David Foster, rounded out the group with 11 points.
The Vikings also controlled the glass, outrebounding St. Cloud State 43-31. Schilling and
Derrick De Zeeuw led the way with 9 boards apiece.
Taylor Witt, who scored just 3 points in the first half, led SCSU with a game-high 24 points. Schneck added 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Josh Ortmann joined them in double figures with 10 points.
Augustana's next action will be next weekend as the Vikings open NSIC play with a home doubleheader. On Friday, the Vikings take on the University of Mary in an 8 p.m. game. Then on Saturday, Augustana will entertain in-state rival Northern State in a 7 p.m. contest.
