WAYNE, Neb. – Senior Alex Richter scored a game-high 22 points and became the 32nd member of the 1,000-point club at Augustana in a 94-69 win over Wayne State (1-3, 0-1 NSIC) in the NSIC opener for both teams on Monday night.
 
The No. 1-ranked Vikings (2-1, 1-0 NSIC) used a big second half to cruise past the Wildcats and got contributions from a large number of players in the win. Ten different players scored for the Vikings, including four finishing in double-figures.
 
Richter finished the night 6 of 9 from the field, knocking down 4 of 5 3-pointers and all six of his free throw attempts. He becomes the 32nd member of the 1,000-point club at Augustana and the seventh player under the direction of Tom Billeter at Augustana to score 1,000-plus points in a career. He is the third current Viking with 1,000-plus points and is the fifth player to reach 1,000 points since 2012.
 
The 20-point performance by Richter is his second of the season and the seventh of his career.  
 
Casey Schilling contributed 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals to add to his already well-rounded 2015-16 campaign. Zach Huisken had a big night off the bench for the Vikings finishing with 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting while knocking down 5 of 6 free throws and grabbing five boards.
 
Adam Beyer pitched in 11 points and six rebounds while John Warren added nine points and four steals. Matthew Brazendale, making his first appearance in over a year for the Vikings, scored seven points while drilling two 3-pointers.
 
Augustana finished the game shooting 44.6 percent (29 of 65) from the field while knocking down 10 of 23 3-pointers. The Vikings have made 10 or more 3-pointers in all three games in 2015-16. Augustana got to the free throw line 34 times on the night and finished 26 of 34 (76.5 percent) from the stripe.
 
Defensively, Augustana put the pressure on the Wildcats forcing 21 turnovers while recording 14 steals. Augustana scored 30 points off Wayne State turnovers while the Wildcats were able to turn Augustana's 11 turnovers into six points.
 
The Vikings also had three blocks on the night and held the Wildcats to just 35.7 percent (20 of 56) from the field. Wayne State started the night out hot hitting 6 of 11 3-pointers in the first half but were held to 8 of 20 for the game. Joel Heesch led the Wildcats with 16 points on the night, picking up nine of his 16 from the free throw line.
 
Augustana pushed the floor early in the game building a nine-point lead behind with three 3-pointers just under four minutes into the contest. Richter matched Wayne State's first two baskets of the game with back-to-back 3-pointers of his own and coming off the bench for the first time of the season, Matthew Brazendale nailed a triple to give the Vikings an early nine point lead at 17-8.
 
The Vikings were able to build their lead up to 12 points when Beyer drilled a triple from the right corner off a Jansen dish that made the score 24-12 in favor of Augustana with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
 
Schilling hit a pair of free throws out of the under-10 media timeout that broke a two-plus minute scoring drought for the Vikings and gave his team a 27-18 lead. Schilling hit another pair of freebies on the next possession for the Vikings and just under a minute later Beyer nailed his second 3-pointer of the game in transition off a dish from Jordan Spencer giving Augustana a 32-20 lead with 6:32 remaining in the half.
 
The Wildcats took advantage of a pair of Augustana turnovers over the next two minutes of the game and cut into Augustana's lead. Joel Heesch knocked down a pair of free throws out of the under-five media timeout getting Wayne State within five at 32-27.
 
Augustana built its lead back up to 11 three times over the final two-plus minutes of the first half, including taking an 11-point lead into halftime after John Warren nailed a 3-pointer from the corner just before the buzzer.
 
The Vikings finished the half shooting 40.6 percent from the field knocking down 13 of 32 shots, including 6 of 13 from 3-point range. Wayne State had an answer every time the Vikings took a double-digit lead in the first half, knocking down 6 of 11 from behind the arc. Jordan Cornelius led the Wildcats with nine points on 3 of 4 shooting from 3-point range in the first half while Heesch added nine points, connecting on 6 of 6 free throws.
 
Beyer led Augustana with 11 points in the first half while Richter added 10. Schilling picked up eight points and four rebounds in the first half while going 4 of 4 from the free throw line. Daniel Jansen was held without a field goal in the first 20 minutes but he finished the half with three points at the line to go along with eight rebounds.
 
Augustana came out of the second half firing on all cylinders going on a 20-4 run over the first 5:16 of the half to build a 27-point lead at 65-38. The Vikings out-scored the Wildcats 17-2 over the first 3:15 of the second half.
 
The fast start was too much for the Wildcats in the second half as the Vikings led by as much as 31 nearly seven minutes into the half.
 
Augustana will now travel to Puerto Rico where it will play two games over the holiday break. The Vikings will take on Turabo on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. (CT) before squaring-off against American (Puerto Rico) at 5 p.m. (CT) on Saturday.
 
The Vikings will return to NSIC play on Dec. 4-5 hosting Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul at the Sioux Falls Arena.