BOX SCORE SIOUX FALLS, S.D – Augustana fought off second-half flurry by Minnesota Morris and came away with a 70-63 exhibition victory on Monday night in Sioux Falls.
Cameron McCaffrey led the Vikings with 18 points on 5 of 18 shooting.
Augustana shot 54 percent as a team in the game, but was just 4 of 14 from 3-point range. A lot of young faces saw their first action for the blue and gold on Monday with six true freshmen hitting the floor for the first time at Augustana.
Daniel Jansen finished the game with seven points and five rebounds while
Casey Schilling and
Zach Huisken each added six points.
Evan Pierce was 4 of 4 from the floor and 1 of 1 from the free throw line to finish with nine points.
RJ Dean and Steve Birman led the Cougars offensively and started off the second half on fire leading the surge for Minnesota Morris. Dean finished with 14 points while Birman accounted for 15, including three from 3-point range.
Augustana led on the boards and finished with 36 rebounds to just 25 for the Cougars. Both teams turned the ball over 18 times and scored 23 points off turnovers.
Minnesota Morris jumped out to an early lead, starting off the first five minutes of the game on a 15-9 run behind three buckets from 3-point range. Augustana responded with a 12-0 run n the next three minutes to take its first lead f the game at 21-15.
From that point on the Vikings never trailed to take an 11-point lead into the break. With a 21-17 lead, Augustana hit four consecutive field goals, including a 3-pointer by McCaffrey to take a 30-17 lead.
Augustana was lights out shooting in the first half connecting on 15 of 24 shots (62 percent) to take a 39-28 lead at halftime. McCaffrey led the Vikings in the half with eight points, including two 3-pointers. Jansen was strong in the paint finishing with five points and two rebounds.
The Vikings dominated the paint picking up 18 points and 14 rebounds, including 11 on the defensive side of the ball. Minnesota Morris turned the ball over 11 times in the first half leading to 16 points for the Vikings off turnovers. Dean led the Cougars in the first half with eight points. Birman and Foss each had five points for UMM.
Dean and Birman caught fire to start the second half leading the Cougars on a 14-0 run in the first three minutes of the second half to give Minnesota Morris a 42-39 lead. The Vikings answered going on a 15-7 run in the next eight minutes to take a 55-49 lead with 7:25 to play in the game.
Augustana used its size to its advantage to regain the lead scoring 12 of its 16 points on the run in the paint.
McCaffrey led the Vikings in the second half scoring 10 points making 4 of 6 shots from the free throw line. There were seven ties and seven lead changes in the game but the Vikings took over for good midway through the second half.
Augustana will begin the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 10, hosting Jamestown College at 8 p.m. at the Elmen Center.
