Box Score
Augustana bounced back from its worst 3-point shooting night of the season with one of its best as the Vikings cruised past Northern State 88-72 Saturday night at Wachs Arena in Aberdeen, S.D.
With the win, 19th-ranked Augustana secured its third-straight 20-win season as the Vikings improved to 20-5 overall and 13-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. Northern State, meanwhile, slipped to 12-13 and 8-10 in the NSIC. The Vikings have now beaten the Wolves all four times they have met as NSIC opponents.
Augustana shot 64.7 percent (11 of 17) from 3-point range in the game, its second-best effort from beyond the arc this season. It comes 24 hours after the Vikings made just 1 of 21 3-point shots in Friday's loss at U-Mary.
The Vikings took control of the game early and never let up. Thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from
Jordan Dalton and another by
Nathan Truex, Augustana built a 19-6 lead with 12:33 left in the first half.
Northern State managed to trim the deficit to 8 points at 27-19 with 7:25 to play in the half. However, the Vikings reeled off 14 unanswered points to take its largest lead of the period at 41-19 with just under 3 minutes to play in the half.
Cameron McCaffrey scored the final 8 points of the outburst with a jumper and a pair of 3-pointers.
The Vikings shot just over 59 percent from the field in the half, connecting on 16 of 27 shots, including 6 of 9 3-point shots. On the other hand, NSU shot 36.7 percent overall (11 of 30) while making only 2 of 8 3-point shots.
Augustana never let Northern State back in the game in the second half. Although Northern State managed to pull within 14 points on a few occasions, Augustana shot too well to allow the Wolves a real chance of making a strong comeback.
The Wolves improved their field goal percentage to 48 percent (14 of 29) in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Vikings, who shot 52 percent (12 of 23) including 5 of 8 shooting from 3-point range.
Augustana was equally effective at the free throw line as the Vikings made 21 of 23 charity tosses for a season-best 91.3 percent.
Despite committing a season-high 17 turnovers, Augustana countered by forcing 16 NSU miscues.
McCaffrey led all scorers with 25 points. The freshman came off the bench to make 8 of 10 shots, including 5 of 6 attempts behind the arc. Truex also came off the bench to finish with 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting, including 4 of 5 3-point shooting.
Derrick De Zeeuw and
Lee Stephens also reached double figures with 10 points apiece.
Mitch Boeck led Northern State with 24 points, while Collin Pryor added 23 points off the bench.
Augustana, which locked up a first-round game in the opening round of the Sanford/NSIC Postseason Tournament on March 3, will be on the road Wednesday, February 24, when the Vikings travel to No. 7 Minnesota State University, Mankato for an 8 p.m. game. The Vikings conclude the regular season at home on Saturday, February 27, when they host Minnesota Duluth in a 4 p.m. contest.
