CROOKSTON, Minn. – No. 2 Augustana University men's basketball cruised to its eighth straight win behind
Daniel Jansen's second double-double of the season as the Vikings defeated Minnesota Crookston 92-60 on Saturday night. The Vikings improve to 8-1 on the season, including 5-0 in NSIC play while Minnesota Crookston drops to 3-6 (1-4 NSIC).
Jansen led the Vikings with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and moved into a tie for sixth all-time in scoring at Augustana. Jansen has now scored 1,704 career points which ties him with Jason Garrow (1988-92) and puts him 60 points shy of moving into fifth all time.
Augustana had four players in double-figures on the night.
Casey Schilling added 15 points and five rebounds while
Adam Beyer pitched in with 13 points and
Alex Richter 12. Beyer was 4 of 6 from the field, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Richter finished the night 5 of 8 shooting, hitting 2 of 4 3-pointers.
Matthew Brazendale hit two of Augustana's 13 3-pointers and finished with eight points. Augustana has now connected on 10 or more 3-pointers in eight of nine games in 2015-16.
Jordan Spencer ran the offense as efficiently as he has all season long finishing with six points, six assists and five rebounds. Spencer has dished out five or more assists in 24 straight games dating back to Jan. 24 of last season, including all nine games in 2015-16.
The Vikings shot 53 percent (35 of 66) from the field while the Golden Eagles were just 36.7 percent (22 of 60) from the field, including 6 of 23 (26 percent) from 3-point range. C.J. Polk led UMC with 20 poitns on the night.
Augustana scored seven straight to open up the game after Beyer ended a two-plus minute drought by both teams to start the game as the Vikings opened up a 7-0 lead just over three minutes into the contest.
Minnesota Crookston cut Augustana's lead to three with a quick 5-0 run that started with a Kobe Critchley 3-pointer but it was all Vikings in the first 20 minutes. Augustana out-scored the Golden Eagles 36-15 in the final 13:28 of the first half to build a 23-point halftime lead of 41-18.
The Vikings were lights-out from behind the arc in the first half connecting on 7 of 12 from behind the arc while shooting 53 percent (17 of 32) from the field. Augustana had eight different players score in the first frame, led by Jansen's 11 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
Richter put on an offensive show during nearly a three-minute stretch where he scored all 10 of his points in the first half. Richter knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to bookend an 11-3 Augustana run which included a couple strong takes to the rim by the senior.
Jansen led all players with 11 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Jansen was 5 of 9 from the field, including 1 of 3 3-point range.
Augustana shot just seven free throws in the first half while the Golden Eagles did not attempt a shot from the stripe. UMC was 9 of 29 (31 percent) from the field, including 2 of 13 (15.4 percent) from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.
Augustana came out storming in the second half going on a 13-4 run over the first five minutes to take a 33-point lead at 57-24.
The Vikings would lead by as much as 35 in the second half, before UMC put together a 12-3 run just past the midway point of the second half to get within 26 after a Polk 3-pointer. The Vikings closed-out the game, pushing the lead back up to 35 and cruised to their eighth straight win.
Augustana will close-out the calendar year on Saturday, Dec. 19 hosting Wayne State at the Sioux Falls Arena at 6 p.m.
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