Box Score
The 18th-ranked Augustana men's basketball team gained a split of its weekend road trip by edging Winona State 88-84 Saturday night at McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minn.
The Vikings improved to 14-2 on the season and 7-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. With the win, Augustana moved into a tie for second place in the conference standings with St. Cloud State, which lost to No. 4 Minnesota State University, Mankato. Winona State, meanwhile, fell to 12-5 overall and 6-4 in the conference.
Augustana never trailed in the game after scoring the first 8 points of the contest. The Vikings led by 15 points, 67-52, with just over 11 minutes to play in the game. For the second night in a row, the home team made a late comeback. However, on Saturday, Augustana did not surrender the lead.
Winona State, on the strength of David Johnson, made the Vikings earn the win. Johnson, the NSIC's leading scorer, scored 23 of his game-high 31 points in the second half in an attempt to rally the Warriors. WSU found themselves down 8 points, 82-74, with 2 minutes to play following a jumper by Augie's
Cody Schilling.
Johnson then made 2 free throws and sank a 3-pointer to make the score 82-79 with 38 seconds on the clock. But Augustana, who did not score a basket in the final 2 minutes, relied on its free throw shooting to preserve the victory.
Jordan Dalton knocked down both ends of a 1-and-1 with 27 seconds left to make it a 5-point game at 84-79. Johnson buried another trey with 20.8 seconds on the clock but
Cameron McCaffrey sank 2 free throws to make it a 2 possession game at 86-82 with 16 seconds remaining.
Johnson then hit another long basket, but this time his foot was on the 3-point line. That cut the Augustana advantage to 86-84 with 8 seconds to play.
Elliot Thomas was then fouled and he made both of his free throws to account for the final score.
For the second straight night, the Vikings got off to a great start. Schilling hit a 3-pointer on the Vikings' first possession of the game.
David Foster then made 2 free throws and buried a 3-pointer of his own to stake the Vikings to an 8-0 lead just 4 minutes into the contest.
Winona State managed to cut the lead to 3 points, 31-28, with 2:21 left in the half, but Foster fueled an 11-4 Viking run to close out the period. Foster drained 2 3-pointers and sank 2 free throws to help the cause.
Lee Stephens capped the rally with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the visitors a 42-32 lead heading into the locker room.
For Foster, it was a big first half. He scored 19 of his 21 points in the half, and in the process scored his 1,000th career point. He is the 26th player in school history to join the 1,000 point club.
Both teams shot the ball well. Augustana made half of its shots (28 of 56), while WSU made 30 of its 61 attempts (49.1 percent). The Vikings also made 11 of 19 3-pointers as 7 different players made a trey. In addition, Augie made 21 of 24 free throws.
The Vikings also dominated the glass as they outrebounded the Warriors by a 38-27 margin. Foster led the way with 7 boards, all on the defensive end.
Schilling led the Vikings with a team-high 23 points, including 12 in the second half. He added 6 boards. McCaffrey was the third Viking in double figures with 11 points.
Besides Johnson's 31 points, 3 other Warriors reached double figures. Jon Walburg scored 15 points, while Ben Fischer poured in 14 points. Xavier Humphrey rounded out the group with 10 points.
Augustana returns home next week for a pair of crucial NSIC games. On Friday, January 22, the Vikings entertain defending regional champion Southwest Minnesota State in an 8 p.m. game. That night the Extreme Team acrobatic dunk team will perform at halftime of both the men's and women's halftimes. Then on Saturday, January 23, Augustana will square off against league-leading Minnesota State University, Mankato, in a 7 p.m. contest. Both games will be held at the Elmen Center.
