Box Score
Augustana broke open a tight game midway through the second half as the 21st-ranked Vikings held off Minnesota State University Moorhead 87-76 Saturday night before 2,538 fans at the Elmen Center.
The Vikings, who extended their winning streak to seven games, improved to 12-1 on the season and 5-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. MSU Moorhead, meanwhile, slipped to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC.
With the score tied 61-61 with 11:40 left to play, Augustana ran off 11 unanswered points to finally give the Vikings some breathing room at 72-61 with 7:45 remaining on the clock.
Elliot Thomas started the rally with a pair of free throws and he capped it with a 3-pointer, while
Cody Schilling added 4 points.
Approximately a minute later,
Nathan Truex drove the lane for a layup to increase the Augustana advantage to 12 at 76-64.
MSUM's Jerome Nelson knocked down a 3-pointer with just over 5 minutes on the clock to cut the deficit to 78-71, but Augustana countered with a 9-2 run to extinguish the Dragons' comeback attempt and give the Vikings their largest lead of the contest, 87-73, with 3 minutes to play.
Cameron McCaffrey, who scored a team-high 19 points, spearheaded the late run. He scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer the cap the rally. He also grabbed a rebound and had an assist on a 3-pointer by
David Foster.
The Vikings increased their level of play in the final 20 minutes. As a team, Augustana shot just under 52 percent from the field in the second half, making 14 of 27 shots. Meanwhile, MSU Moorhead shot 40 percent, connecting on 10 of 25 shots.
The first half was a see-saw affair that saw 10 ties and 6 lead changes. Augustana appeared poised to pull away midway through the half. Trailing 17-15 with just under 13 minutes before intermission, the Vikings went on a 12-4 run, capped by a 3-point play by Schilling, to put the hosts in front 27-21 with 7:34 on the clock.
However, the Vikings made just 1 field goal over the next 5 minutes. MSUM took advantage as the Dragons outscored Augie 17-6 to take their largest lead of the contest at 38-33 with 2:15 left before halftime.
Augustana managed to gain some momentum by going on an 8-4 run to close out the half and trim the deficit to 42-41 heading into the locker room.
McCaffrey led three Vikings in double figures with his 19 points. He was a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, becoming the 10th player in school history to go at least 10-for-10 at the charity stripe in a game.
Joining McCaffrey in double figures were Schilling with 18 points and Truex with 16 points. Truex also grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.
Augustana again demonstrated tremendous care of the basketball. The Vikings turned the ball over only 7 times, marking the fourth time in 5 games, and third straight, that they have had less than 10 turnovers in a game.
For MSU Moorhead, Dennis Williamson came off the bench to score 21 points, while Jake Driscoll tossed in 20 points. Xavier Reed added 10 points in a losing cause.
Augustana, which had its weekend games pushed back a day due to poor travel conditions, will take on Minnesota, Crookston, on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Elmen Center.
