BOX SCORE
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - No. 10-ranked Minnesota State held off a lingering Augustana and collected a 92-79 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory Friday night in Sioux Falls, S.D., snapping an eight-game Viking winning streak.
MSU improves to 18-2 (14-2 NSIC), while Augustana drops to 14-6 (11-5 NSIC).
The Mavericks held a 77-75 advantage with 4:22 left, but they turned that into an 11-point lead with 1:29 remaining.
The loss is the first for the Vikings since Jan. 3 when they fell to St. Cloud State 76-74 in Sioux Falls.
The Mavericks shot 56.1 percent (32 of 57) from the floor and connected on 10 3-pointers in the win. Cameron Hodges led MSU with a game-high 23 points.
Cody Schilling paced the Vikings with 22 points.
Cameron McCaffrey added 19 points, and
Yuriy Malashenko contributed 12.
The Mavericks owned a 10-point lead nine minutes into the contest, but the Vikings got a cluster of 10 points from Schilling in the next three minutes and trailed by just two points with eight minutes left before intermission.
MSU's shooting, though, continued to heat up. The Mavericks, who shot 54.5 percent in the opening half, returned their lead to eight points by halftime.
Schilling finished the first half 5 of 8 from the field for 16 points. The rest of the Vikings combined for a 6 of 18 first-half outing.
Hodges led the Mavericks with 14 first-half points.
The Vikings trailed the remainder of the game. Augustana had the deficit down to two points four minutes into the second half and at the 4:22 mark, but the Mavericks answered each time with ensuing runs.
MSU's final surge of the contest came inside the four-minute mark. The 11-2 run gave the Mavericks an 88-77 advantage with 1:29 to play. The three-minute stretch proved to be the difference.
The Mavericks got 30 points from their bench and outrebounded Augustana 32-28.
The game was the first against a nationally ranked opponent for the Vikings this season.
Augustana hosts Southwest Minnesota State tomorrow at 6 p.m.
