BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -
Cameron McCaffrey netted a game-high 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting from the field to lead Augustana to a 69-53 victory over cross-town neighbor the University of Sioux Falls Wednesday night in the Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Augustana moves to 2-0. The game was an exhibition tilt for USF, which entered with a record of 1-2.
McCaffrey was the lone Viking to score in double figures, but Augustana also got eight points from Chad Hetermann and seven each from
Cody Schilling and
Ethan Thomforde.
Schilling and Derek De Zeeuw each grabbed four rebounds for the Vikings.
Derek Brown's 13 points led the Cougars.
The Cougars had their hands full with McCaffrey, who went off for 19 first-half points. Last year's Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Freshman of the Year went 8 of 11 from the field and drilled a pair of 3-pointers.
The Vikings used precision shooting--a 53.6 first-half performance--to hold a double-figure lead at 39-26 lead at intermission.
Augustana trailed momentarily to open the game, but eight points by McCaffrey got the Vikings a lead they would not give up for the remainder of the half.
The Augustana advantage grew to as large as 11 points after
Chad Hettermann cashed in a three-point play with 6:24 left in the half to give his club a 28-17 lead.
USF cut the deficit to five points just two minutes later, but seven unanswered points from McCaffrey returned the Vikings' lead to double figures.
Augustana finished the half on an 11-2 run.
The Vikings began the second half on a 12-2 surge to take a 23-point lead just four minutes in.
USF would not get any closer than 14 points in the second half, though that occurred with 1:39 remaining. The Cougars did manage to log a better shooting performance in the second half, knocking down 47.1 percent of their field goals.
Augustana finished 47.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc. McCaffrey drained four of the Vikings' five 3-pointers.
USF, which turned the ball over 18 times, held a 31-29 edge in rebounds.
The win for Augustana was its ninth straight in the series with USF. The Vikings have also won 16 of the last 17 meetings and last lost to the Cougars in 1994.
Augustana returns to action next Wednesday, hosting Valley City (N.D.) at 8 p.m.
