BOX SCORE BOX SCORE
BISMARCK, N.D. - Drae Murray and
Cameron McCaffrey collaborated for 34 points to help No. 16 Augustana to a 58-45 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over U-Mary Friday evening in Bismarck, N.D.
Augustana, which picked up its fourth straight win, moves to 6-1 (3-0 NSIC); U-Mary drops to 2-5 (1-2 NSIC).
Murray dropped 19 points on the Marauders while also grabbing seven rebounds.
McCaffrey, who entered the game with 999 career points, scored 15. He becomes the 29th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Cody Schilling just missed double figures with eight points.
Eleven points from Darius Robinson paced the Marauders.
The win for Augustana was its first at U-Mary since joining the NSIC in 2008-09.
The Vikings shot 46.2 percent (24 of 52) in the win.
U-Mary was held to just 45 points--the lowest output by an Augustana opponent this season.
A 16-2 run that started with five minutes left in the first half gave Augustana a double-figure halftime lead. During that surge, Murray siphoned off 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Vikings were a sharp 50 percent from the floor in the first 20 minutes and held a 30-17 advantage at the break.
A 56.5 percent (13 of 23) shooting performance in the second half by the Marauders wasn't enough to chip into the already commanding Viking lead. U-Mary got within 13 points twice at the 10- and eight-minute marks, but Augustana pulled away each time.
The closing stretch saw little action. The two teams combined for just five field goals in the final seven minutes.
Murray's contributions came on defense, too. He made seven steals and helped his team force 17 U-Mary turnovers.
Augustana travels to Northern State tomorrow for an 8 p.m. NSIC game. A win by the Vikings would be their best start to a conference season since the 1977-78 campaign when they went 5-0 to begin play in the North Central Conference.
