Box Score
The Augustana men's basketball team came back from a 16-point deficit to win 82-81 over Winona State Saturday night in a game where Augie didn't lead until the last second. Freshman guard
Cameron McCaffrey made 20 of his 29 points in the second half, including a 15-footer with 0.3 seconds on the clock.
After leading only 31-27 at halftime, Winona State (17-7, 11-6 NSIC) built a double-digit lead, where they hovered for most of the second half, Things started to get interesting when sophomore guard
Cody Schilling tipped the ball in off of a missed jumper by senior guard
Jordan Dalton. The basket left Augustana (19-4, 12-4 NSIC) down 68-54 to a Winona State team who was on a roll. Still, the play had implications for the outcome of the game.
Dalton's shot was the last one Augie would miss.
Two made free throws by Winona State's Xavier Humphrey increased the Warrior lead back to 16 points, but just seconds later, Schilling drained a three before being fouled on the following possession. He made both free throws, moving the score to 70-59 with 4:33 remaining.
A steal and fastbreak layup by freshman guard Kenny Brown cut the lead to nine, but Winona State's David Johnson was fouled on a made layup, and the ensuing make from the charity stripe put the Warriors back up 73-61 with 3:39 on the clock.
Then came McCaffrey. The guard scored a fastbreak layup with 3:29 on the clock. Winona State's CJ Erickson made one of two free throws, allowing Schilling to grab the rebound and make the score 74-65 after a made jumper with 2:59 to play.
A turnover by Johnson allowed McCaffrey to make a jumper in the paint, but Humphrey answered with a layup on the other end. With 2:35 on the clock, McCaffrey drained a trey to make the score 76-70.
Johnson was fouled by Schilling and a miss on the second free throw allowed Schilling to grab the rebound where the Vikings worked it in for a
Chad Hetterman layup, forcing the Warriors to take a timeout at 1:48, with the score 77-72.
After the timeout, Brad Meyer miss a three from the corner, and senior guard
Elliot Thomas struggled for a huge defensive rebound that led to a fastbreak by McCaffrey. Erickson was called for a foul, and the basket fell, sending McCaffrey to the line where his made free throw moved the score to 77-75 with just 1:03 to play.
Erickson made a layup and McCaffrey drove the length of the court under tough Warrior defense to drop a three and put the Vikings down one, 79-78. Head coach
Tom Billeter called a timeout with 47 seconds on the clock as the crowd chanted, "You can't stop him," to the Warrior bench.
The Warriors milked the shot clock, and Johnson missed a jumper with 18 seconds remaining, but Erickson was fouled as he pulled down the rebound. Two makes from the line made the game 81-78.
McCaffrey charged down the court again, splitting the Warrior defense on his way to a layup with 11 seconds left that made the score 81-80, still in favor of Winona State.
After an Augie timeout, Hetterman fouled Meyer with seven seconds left, who missed both of his free throws. Thomas made another clutch rebound and got the ball in McCaffrey's hands. He drove toward the basket, tossing the ball up off of his hip from 15 feet. The Augie crowd erupted as the ball fell with 0.3 seconds remaining, making it one of the most exciting Augustana comebacks in Elmen Center history.
The Vikings were 12 of 12 from the floor in the last 5:58 of the game, while McCaffrey scored 15 points in the last 3:29.
The Vikings shot 58.8 percent (30 of 51) from the field for the game, and were 69 percent (20 of 29) in the second half. They were 83.3 percent (15 of 18) from the free throw line, compared to Winona State's 66.7 percent (18 of 27).
Incredibly, Winona State still outshot the Vikings. They were 60.4 percent (29 of 48) for the game and 75 percent (18 of 24) in the second half. They even outshot Augie from 3-point range, shooting 41.7 percent (5 of 12) compared to Augie's 38.9 percent (7 of 18) from behind the arc.
The Warriors also narrowly outshot the Vikings in a relatively uneventful first half, making 45.8 percent (11 of 24) from the field and 25 percent (2 of 8) from behind the arc.
Augie was 45.5 percent (10 of 22) from the field and 22.2 percent (2 of 9) from 3-point range in the first half.
McCaffrey led all scorers on 12 of 17 shooting.
He was joined in double-figures by Schilling who scored 19 points of 6 of 7 from the field. He also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
Johnson paced the Warriors with 24 points.
The Vikings will be back on the road next weekend, taking on U-Mary on Friday and Northern State on Saturday. Both games tipoff at 8 p.m.
