BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - MSU Moorhead received double-digit scoring performances from five different players en route to an 81-76 victory over No. 14 Augustana Sunday evening in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball in Sioux Falls.
MSUM remains perfect at 9-0 (5-0 NSIC). Augustana, which had its six-game winning streak snapped, moves to 8-2 (5-1 NSIC).
Charlie Chapman and Jake Lindfors each scored 18 points for the Dragons, while Jordan Riewer netted 13, Jake Driscoll had 11 and DJ Hamilton added 10.
Leif Nomeland's game-high 19 points led Augustana.
Cody Schilling scored 15,
Brennan Olson registered 12 and
Drae Murray logged 11. Olson also added a game-high eight rebounds.
MSUM connected on 11 3-pointers in the win.
The contest featured nine lead changes.
Early on, it looked like the Vikings were well on their way to a seventh-straight win.
Augustana began the game with an 11-0 run, getting four points each from Murray and Olson in the surge. The Vikings held mostly a double-figure advantage until the six-minute mark.
But a 10-2 push from MSUM inside six minutes put the Dragons in a position to erase the deficit. With 1:11 remaining before halftime, a five-point play by the Dragons gave them the lead. Riewer connected on a 3-pointer, the Vikings fouled under the basket and Jimmy Johnson hit a pair of free throws to move MSUM ahead 35-33.
Augustana evened the contest at 35-35 just before intermission.
The Vikings shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half. Nomeland scored 11 first-half points.
The two clubs traded leads for the first seven minutes of the second half, but the Dragons took a decisive advantage with 12:56 remaining when Chapman hit a 3-pointer to put MSUM up 50-49.
MSUM owned a four-point lead with 8:35 left, and, after two ties, the Dragons answered with 3-pointers each time to silence a Viking spurt.
The Dragons staved off the lingering Vikings by making seven free throws in the final 36 seconds.
A 56.5-percent shooting performance by MSUM in the second half also kept Augustana from erasing a difference down the stretch. The Vikings allowed the Dragons to make 28 trips to the free-throw line.
The loss spoiled a win streak that saw the Vikings win five games to open a conference season for the first time since 1977-78 in the North Central Conference.
Augustana travels to St. Cloud State and Concordia University, St. Paul on Jan. 2 and 3.
