BOX SCORE
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia University, St. Paul handed No. 21 Augustana its third-straight loss, topping the Vikings 81-77 Tuesday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball in St. Paul, Minn.
CU moves to 5-6 (2-5 NSIC), while Augustana falls to 8-4 (5-3 NSIC).
The Golden Bears had five players in double figures. Peter Olafeso scored 15, Cole Olstad had 14, Kenny Olafeso netted 13, Isaiah Thomas had 12 and Deonte Roberts added 10.
The Vikings got a game-high 20 points from
Drae Murray, 19 from
Cameron McCaffrey and 12 from
Cody Schilling.
CU shot 57.6 percent (34 of 59) in the win.
Both teams logged precise performances from the floor in the first half. The Golden Bears shot 61.3 percent (19 of 31), while the Vikings were at 56.3 percent (18 of 32).
The equal shooting amounted to 14 lead changes in the first half. The Vikings owned the largest advantage with 9:02 before intermission when they led 29-23 after five-straight points from Murray.
Murray, who had three 3-pointers, led all scorers with 15 points at the break. CU led 43-42 at halftime.
The Golden Bears worked their advantage to as many as 13 points on three different occasions in the second half, but the Vikings trimmed it to a manageable four points at 74-70 with 5:26 to play.
Four minutes later, a McCaffrey 3-pointer made is 78-75; however, the three-point difference was as close as Augustana would get. The Olafesos teamed up to make three free throws in the final 30 seconds, making it a six-point spread with 16 seconds to play.
The Vikings couldn't close the gap down the stretch.
The stellar shooting by the Golden Bears marked the second-consecutive game a team has shot better than 55 percent from the field. Heading into the weekend, no opponent had eclipsed the 50-percent mark against the Vikings this season.
Augustana managed 11 steals in the loss. Murray accounted for five.
The Vikings will host Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth on Saturday and Sunday.
