BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – St. Cloud State held off a late run by Augustana and managed a 76-74 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over the Vikings Monday night in Sioux Falls, S.D.
SCSU improves to 5-5 (4-2 NSIC), while Augustana falls to 6-5 (3-4 NSIC).
The Vikings erased a 12-point deficit in the game's final five minutes and had the Huskies tied at 74-74 with 33 second left, but a pair of free throws from SCSU's Josh Ortmann and a missed go-ahead 3-pointer by Augustana's
Cameron McCaffrey with five seconds remaining sealed the Husky victory.
McCaffrey led the Vikings with 19 points.
Cody Schilling went over 1,000 points for his career with a 16-point effort. He becomes the 28th player in Augustana history to reach the milestone.
Leif Nomeland and
Trevor Hass each reached double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Taylor Witt scored a game-high 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting for the Huskies.
Both teams displayed precise shooting as SCSU shot 49.2 percent from the field and Augustana shot 49.1 percent.
The contest's final two minutes featured two tie scores, but the Huskies never trailed in the game. The Vikings knotted the tilt at 72-72 with 1:19 left on a Schilling dunk and did it again 34 seconds later on a jumper from the junior.
Each time, though, the Huskies had an answer. SCSU got points from Andrew Bernstetter and Josh Ortmann in the stretch to prevent Augustana from taking the lead.
McCaffrey's missed 3-pointer resulted in a bonus for SCSU's Brett Putz with two seconds left, but the Vikings failed to muster a last-second shot attempt after Putz missed his first free throw.
The loss marks the fourth time this season the Vikings have lost by fewer than four points.
The Huskies christened the game with a 12-3 run behind 3-pointers from Putz and Bernstetter. That lead only grew for SCSU, getting to as large as 16 points at the 7:43 mark after Taylor Witt finished off a three-point play to make it a 32-16 advantage.
The Vikings, though, did anything but lay down. Augustana used the last six minutes of the first half to orchestrate an 18-5 run. Seven of those points came from McCaffrey,and the Vikings held the Huskies to just two field goals in that stretch.
Augustana found itself trailing just 37-34 at intermission.
McCaffrey led all scorers with 14 points at the break. He went 6 of 11 from the field, including drilling one 3-pointer.
Augustana trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, but managed to cut into that difference inside the eight-minute mark.
A 16-2 run that spanned more than four minutes late in the game allowed the Vikings to trail by just two points at 70-68 with 2:47 remaining.
From there, Augustana went on to tie the game twice in the final two minutes. The Vikings got steals from Schilling and
Chad Hettermann in that final stretch to stay in contention.
The Huskies made use of their nine offensive boards, turning them into 15 points. SCSU held a 30-29 edge in rebounds.
SCSU drained 10 3-pointers in the win--three coming from Putz.
Augustana returns to action tomorrow night when the Vikings host Concordia University, St. Paul at 8:05 p.m.
