BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - No. 14-ranked Augustana rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to earn a 66-60 victory over Minnesota, Crookston Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball in Sioux Falls.
Augustana, which has won its last six games, moves to 8-1 (5-0 NSIC). UMC falls to 4-4 (0-4 NSIC).
The win ties the best conference start by a Viking men's basketball team since 1977-78 when Augustana went 5-0 to start the North Central Conference season.
Augustana orchestrated a 12-0 run with 10 minutes left to take a 51-50 advantage--a lead it wouldn't relinquish. The surge was part of a larger 21-2 late run by the Vikings.
Cody Schilling scored a game-high 23 points for Augustana;
Drae Murray added 17.
Viking post man
Derrick De Zeeuw pulled down a team-high six boards.
Jacolby Anderson's 17 points led the Golden Eagles, which outrebounded the Vikings 32-30.
The tight contest saw 11 lead changes and three ties.
The Golden Eagles held a lead for the first 10 minutes of the game, but a three-point play by De Zeeuw to make it 21-20 with 8:30 left before the break gave the Vikings their first advantage in more than eight minutes.
Schilling followed with a steal and bucket and then nailed a 3-pointer a minute later to five his team a 27-22 lead.
After briefly surrendering their advantage with 30 seconds left before intermission, the Vikings got a three-point play from
Eric Jorgensen to move ahead 32-30 at the break.
UMC shot 52.0 percent in the opening half, but 12 points from Schilling served as the Vikings' neutralizer.
The Golden Eagles used a 16-2 run in the second half to erase the halftime deficit. The scoring stretch, which ran from 15:49 to 10:21, was headlined by Akeem Cubie's eight points. As a result, UMC led 50-39.
But from there, Augustana went to work on its own game-winning run, taking its largest lead--an eight-point advantage--with 4:39 left.
The Vikings got a combined 24 points from Schilling and Murray in the game's final 10 minutes to complete the rally. The tandem also hit four free throws in the final 22 seconds to keep UMC in check.
Augustana shot 47.8 percent in the win and was 5 of 9 (55.6 percent) from behind the arc.
The Viking made 20 trips to the charity stripe, converting 17 of those tries.
Augustana is one of three teams left in the NSIC with perfect conference records. Winona State is 5-0 in conference play, and MSU Moorhead, which visits the Elmen Center tomorrow at 6 p.m., is 4-0.
