Box Score
Augustana's dream of making its first trip to the NCAA Division II Elite 8 Championships came up short as the Vikings dropped a 73-60 decision to Southwest Minnesota State in the finals of the Central Regional Tournament Tuesday night in Marshall, Minn.
Augustana (21-10) was attempting to become just the third No. 7 seed to advance to the Elite 8 since the regions expanded to 8 teams in 2003. But the host Mustangs (28-6), the tournament's top seed, instead clinched their second trip to the Elite 8 since 2001.
The first half went back-and-forth for the first 8 minutes. The lead changed hands 4 times and featured 3 ties.
Southwest Minnesota State put together the game's first big run. Trailing 15-14, the Mustangs reeled off 9 unanswered points to take a 23-15 lead with 9:37 to play in the first half.
But the Vikings were not rattled as they countered with 8 consecutive points of their own, including a pair of buckets from
Mike Klepatz, to knot the score at 23-23 with 4:18 left in the half.
Andy Beilke helped SMSU regain the lead with a 3-pointer to help the hosts close out the half with an 11-4 run to make the score 34-27 at the break.
Southwest Minnesota State struck quickly at the outset of the second half. Ryan Krome hit a 3-pointera and Taylor Huseby scored inside to push the Mustang lead to 39-27 and ignited the crowd of 3,689.
But Augustana withstood the outburst and steadily pounded the ball inside, which resulted in the Vikings going to the free throw line. Trailing 45-34, the Vikings used an 8-2 rally, all which came at the free throw line, to pull within 5 points, 47-42 with just over 9 minutes to play.
But SMSU answered with a 7-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer by Beilke, the Tournament MVP, which increased the lead to 54-44 with 7 minutes to play.
Augustana tried to mount a final charge.
Lee Stephens converted a 3-point play and
David Foster sank 2 free throws again make it a 5-point game at 54-49 with 5:42 to play.
However, SMSU put the game away with 9 straight points, again capped by a Beilke trey, to make the score 63-49 with just under 2 minutes on the clock.
For the game, Stephens led the Vikings with 12 points, while Klepatz netted 10 points off the bench. Klepatz and Foster were Augustana's representatives on the All-Tournament Team. SMSU's Ross DeMasi and Krome rounded out the team.
Beilke led all scorers with 25 points, while Krome was the only other player in double figures with 11.
Augustana shot 36 percent from the field for the game. The Vikings made just 9 field goals in each half. However, by pounding the ball inside, Augie was able to make 21 of 25 free throws. SMSU, meanwhile, shot 43 percent (26 of 61) from the field.
The loss marked the end of the playing careers for Augustana's three seniors –
Eric Krogman,
Marques Blank and Klepatz. In addition to leading the Vikings to 59 wins over the past three seasons, each player scored over 925 points. Krogman finished with 984 points, while Blank scored 970 and Klepatz 943.
Southwest Minnesota State will play the West Region champion in the first round of the Elite 8 on Wednesday, March 25, at 2:30 p.m. in Springfield, Mass. BYU Hawaii, ranked No. 3 in the country, will face Cal Poly Pomona Wednesday night in Hawaii for the West Region title.
