BOX SCORE
DULUTH, Minn. -
Leif Nomeland netted a career- and game-high 21 points to lead Augustana past Minnesota Duluth 76-49 Sunday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball in Duluth, Minn.
Augustana picked up its third straight win and moves to 9-5 (6-4 NSIC); UMD falls to 7-6 (5-4 NSIC).
Nomeland's 21 points came on 9 of 14 shooting from the floor; he also hit two 3-pointers.
Ten Vikings made it into the scoring column. Others in double figures were
Cody Schilling with 17 points,
Cameron McCaffrey with 14 and
Ethan Thomforde with 10.
Derrick De Zeeuw grabbed a game-high 10 boards, marking the third time this season the junior has had a double-figure rebounding effort. De Zeeuw anchored a strong rebounding performance from the Vikings, who topped the Bulldogs 41-32 in the category.
Augustana shot a season-high 52.6 percent from the field, including a 53.3 percent performance in the first half.
The Vikings also matched a season-low with just five turnovers.
Jake Hottenstine's 19 points led the Bulldogs.
Serving as a precursor to what turned out to be a dominant outing by the Vikings, Augustana filled the first three minutes of the contest with a 9-0 run. The initial surge set the tone as the Vikings held a double-figure lead for the much of the first half
A 10-2 run by the Vikings to close the first half put them in a 36-19 lead at the break.
Nomeland finished 6 of 9 from the field in the first half and had 13 points—just three shy of tying his career high—at intermission.
Augustana mostly rolled in the second half, turning their 17 points halftime lead into advantage 20 points at 6:22.
From there, Nomeland and Thomforde teamed up to score 11 of Augustana's 13 final points. The Vikings' largest lead came when Thomforde drained a jumper with 34 seconds left to close scoring.
Augustana got stellar play inside, scoring 30 points in the paint—a host of those coming off Nomeland buckets.
The 19 points Augustana held UMD to in the first half was a season low.
The Vikings travel to Wayne State on Saturday for a 6 p.m. conference contest.
