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This week
Augustana (1-0) travels to Monmouth, Ore., this weekend to take part in the Western Oregon/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout on the campus of Western Oregon. The Vikings will face Saint Martin's (Wash.) (0-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. CDT and WOU (1-1), the host school, Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CDT.
The series
Augustana will meet both Saint Martin's and Western Oregon for the first time in program history this weekend.
Watch live
Western Oregon will stream live video each game involving its team for the Shootout this weekend, including Saturday's contest against Augustana. Visit
www.pennatlantic.com to watch. The Vikings' Friday game against St. Martin's will not be streamed live.
Last time out
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 was Augustana's 10th straight over USF.
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.
Winning way to open
The Vikings earned a win in their season-opening game for the third consecutive season with their victory over the University of Sioux Falls Tuesday night. Augustana opened with wins over Jamestown (N.D.) the past two seasons. The Vikings last lost in a season opener on Nov. 14, 2008, when they fell to Chadron State on the road.
Hot hands
Augustana put together a scorching shooting performance from the floor Tuesday, connecting on 25 of 47 shots to finish the game at a 53.2 percent clip. The Vikings shot better than 50 percent six times last season, winning each of those games.
Mama, I'm coming home
The games this weekend in Oregon mark the first collegiate appearance of
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) in his home state. The junior played at Century High School in Hillsboro, Ore., where he was named player of the year in the Northwest Oregon Conference. McCaffrey lettered four years at Century. He scored 733 points as a senior, the 12th best single-season point total in Oregon history. He earned Class 5A All-state honors and was named to the all-state tournament team. He is well known in Oregon for sinking “The shot,” a 15-footer with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game to beat Wilsonville 41-40 in the 2009 state tournament semifinals.
What the coaches say
Augustana is the favorite to win the conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 26 by the conference office. The Vikings received nine first-place votes and 164 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
Rank Team Points
1. Augustana (9) 164
2. Winona State (3) 158
3. Minnesota State (1) 140
4. Concordia-St. Paul (1) 135
5. MSU Moorhead 122
6. St. Cloud State 108
7. Bemidji State 82
8. Southwest Minnesota State 78
9 Minnesota Duluth 76
10. Northern State 67
11. Wayne State 54
12. University of Mary 46
13. Upper Iowa 31
14. Minnesota, Crookston 13
It's opening night
First-game jitters had the Vikings a bit unsure of themselves Tuesday against the University of Sioux Falls. Augustana turned the ball over 17 times in the win. The Cougars managed to turn those mistakes into 18 points.
From behind the arc
Augustana connected on just 3 of 14 3-pointers Tuesday evening, marking an uncharacteristic low in the category. The Vikings connected on at least four 3-pointers in all but two games last season. The last time Augustana drilled less than four was on Dec. 10, 2010, when the Vikings went 3 of 21 from behind the arc in a 68-55 win over U-Mary.
National news
Augustana is ranked 16th in the 2011-12 National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Preseason Poll released Tuesday. The Vikings received 69 points in the poll voted on by members of the NABC. Defending national champion Bellarmine (Ky.) enters the 2011-12 season as the nation's top-ranked team. The Knights earned 200 points and eight first-place votes. The first regular-season poll is due out Nov. 29. To view the complete poll, turn to page 8. The Vikings were also ranked No. 8 by the Sporting News in its preseason national poll released in September.
A look back
The Vikings finished the 2010-11 season 18-9 overall and 15-7 in the NSIC. Augustana was third in the final conference standings. The Vikings were not selected for the NCAA tournament after making appearances in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
We're back
Augustana returns four starters from last season and a trio of players who made significant contributions as reserves. The All-NSIC first-team guard combo of
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) and
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) is back. Big man
Derrick De Zeeuw--a sharp shooter from the field--returns to fill a forward spot, and inside-outside threat
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.) is also back at his forward position. Forwards
Yuriy Malashenko (Jordan, Minn.),
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) and
Eric Jorgensen (Sioux City, Iowa) provided a sturdy front line off the bench a year ago.
Evan Pierce (Houston, Texas) was on the roster for the spring semester last season after transferring from Division I Wagner (Pa.), and
Dajon Newell (Lakeville, Minn.), who redshirted last season, has joined the squad after finishing up with the football team.
New faces
The Vikings welcome seven new players to the squad for 2011-12, including four transfers. Guard
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) joins the team after spending three seasons at Division I Sam Houston State. He's expected to take over the point-guard spot.
Scotty Norwood (El?Paso, Texas) is coming off two years at Odessa College, and Nick Bennet (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) is fresh off a pair of seasons at Antelope Valley College in California.
David Fritsch (Stewartville, Minn.) played two seasons at Rochester Community and Technical College in Minnesota. Three freshmen dot the roster:?
Vaughn Thada (Owatonna, Minn.), Al Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Ben Reker (Appleton, Wis.).
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). The senior is ninth on the career scoring list at Augustana with 1,419 points. He needs 411 points to tie Carl Gonder's career scoring mark of 1,830 points. He scored 572 points last season.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
4. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
5. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
6. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
7. 1628 Bill Gross 1969-73
8. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
9. 1419 Cody?Schilling 2008-11
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
McCaffrey nearing a grand
Junior guard
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) will likely go past 1,000-career points early in the season. McCaffrey is at 928 points through one game in 2011-12. The 2009-10 NSIC Freshman of the year owns a career average of 15.7 points per game.
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The?Vikings are 918-1032 all-time and have racked up 37 winning seasons, including the past five seasons under
Tom Billeter.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
Coaches' corner
Tom Billeter begins his ninth season as head men's basketball coach at Augustana in 2011-12. He is 128-104 as the leader of the Vikings and 225-154 all-time as a head coach. He served as the head coach at North Dakota State for five seasons (1992 to 1997). Billeter is assisted by Jeff Trumbauer, Luke Wiersma,
Chad Hettermann and Hans Hoeg.
Video webcasts
The NSIC and Penn Atlantic have again teamed up to webcast each conference basketball game in 2011-12. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
