BOX SCORE BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Augustana made a defensive stand on the University of Sioux Falls' final possession, effectively holding off the Cougars and picking up a 64-63 win in the fifth annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge Tuesday night at the Sioux Falls Arena.
The win comes in Augustana's season opener and is its 10th straight over USF. The Cougars move to 1-2.
Cody Schilling poured in 28 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Vikings.
Cameron McCaffrey added 15 points, and
Drae Murray scored 12.
Skyler Bloch's 22 points led the Cougars.
Augustana shot 53.2 percent in the win.
The Vikings held double-figure leads several times throughout the contest, but the Cougars managed to close the gap with a spirited late effort that had them within one point two times in the final minute.
Augustana scorched the net in the opening half, shooting 52.0 percent (13 of 25). That sharp shooting afforded the Vikings as large as a 10-point lead at the 5:39 mark.
Schilling (13) and McCaffrey (9) did the bulk of the scoring for Augustana, combining for 22 first-half points.
USF got 14 points from Bloch in the first half.
The Vikings led 35-28 at the break.
Augustana nursed a double-figure lead for much of the first four minutes of the second half, but USF had the difference down to three points with 14:57 left when Saajid Polite cashed in on a three-point play and Keith Cutler made an easy layup to make it a 44-41 contest.
Six straight points by Schilling in less than two minutes returned the Viking advantage to double figures at 56-46 with 8:53 left.
USF, though, turned it on in the final six minutes.
The Cougars had the difference down to three points with 5:56 left, and they closed it to just one point with 1:12 remaining after an Alex Robey bucket.
A Schilling 3-pointer followed for Augustana, and, with 36 seconds left, Cutler drained a pair of free throws for the Cougars to make it 64-63.
With a chance to extend the Augustana lead,
Leif Nomeland missed the front end of a bonus chance at the line moments later, and USF failed to convert on a pair of chances in the closing seconds.
The Vikings committed 17 turnovers in the win; USF converted the Augustana mistakes into 18 points.
The Cougars got strong play inside and scored 34 points in the paint.
Augustana travels to Monmouth, Ore., this weekend, playing Saint Martin's (Wash.) on Friday and Western Oregon on Saturday. Both contests are 7:30 p.m. CDT starts.
