Box Score
The Augustana men's basketball team put together its best first half of the season in terms of scoring as the Vikings rolled past Dakota State University 80-64 in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at the Elmen Center.
Augustana improved to 9-1 on the season. The Trojans remained 5-4 as the contest was designated as an exhibition game on their schedule.
Augustana had the hot hand in the first half as the Vikings scored a season-best 56 points in the period. While Augustana shot 60 percent from the field, the Vikings did most of their damage from the 3-point line where they connected on 9 of 13 shots behind the arc.
The Vikings raced out to an early 8-2 lead on the strength of 5 points by
Lee Stephens. Moments later, leading 9-5, Augustana outscored Dakota State 14-6 to boost the lead to 23-11 with 11:13 left in the half.
After a 3-pointer by DSU's Derek Kreutzfeldt made the score 23-14, Augustana erupted. The Vikings scored 11 unanswered points to start a 27-8 run that pushed their advantage to 50-22 with 3:25 left in the half.
The Vikings used their 3-point shooting to trigger the rally. Augie made 7 treys during the outburst.
David Foster connected on 3 3-pointers, while
Cody Schilling added a pair.
Augustana cooled off in the second half. The Vikings' 24 points matched a season-low for a half. Augustana still shot a respectable 42 percent from the field, but the Vikings were just 1 of 6 from 3-point range.
Schilling scored the first basket of the second half to give the Vikings their largest lead of the game at 27 points. While the Trojans outscored Augustana 33-24 in the half, they never made a run to put a scare in the Vikings.
Trailing 62-36 with just under 17 minutes on the clock, Dakota State went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead under 20 points at 64-45 with 14:15 to play. From there, the lead hovered between 16 and 24 points the rest of the contest.
Schilling led the Vikings with 17 points. He had a strong all-around game, amassing 6 rebounds and 6 assists as well. Foster finished with 16 points, while Stephens chipped in with 12.
Santino Clay and Everett Smith were the only DSU players in double figures as they each scored 11 points.
For the game, Augustana shot just under 53 percent (32 of 61) from the field and 52.6 percent (10 of 19) from 3-point range. DSU managed to outrebound the Vikings by a 39-25 count, but the Vikings won the turnover battle by a 21-14 margin.
Augustana is now off until 2010. The Vikings' next game will be January 2 at Bemidji State. It will be Augie's first official road game of the season.
