BOX SCORE

SIOUX FALL, S.D. – No. 1 seed Augustana men's basketball saw its historic season come to an end in a 66-65 loss to No. 4 seed Northwest Missouri State University in the semifinals of the NCAA Central Region Tournament on Sunday night. The Vikings won a school record 31 games this season, finishing 31-3, and had a school record19-game winning streak.
 
Northwest Missouri State improved to 25-6 and will play No. 2 seed MSU Moorhead in the Central Region Championship game on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
Daniel Jansen led the Vikings with 20 points and set the single season scoring record finishing with 671 on the year. Jansen also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists and had two steals. Jordan Spencer added 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.
 
Justin Pitts led Northwest Missouri State with 22 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Zach Schneider finished with 15, going 5 of 11 from 3-point range for the Bearcats.  
 
How it happened
• The Vikings came out of the gates fast jumping out to a 9-0 lead just 3:13 into the game.
• Matt Wallace stopped nearly a five minute scoring drought for the Bearcats with a jumper to make the score 9-2 and eventually used a 7-2 run to make the score 11-7 with 13:57 remaining in the first half.
• The Bearcats cut the lead all the way down to three after Brett Dougherty converted a 3-point play but the Vikings answered with a 10-3 run over the next 1:43 that was capped-off by a Steven Schaefer 3-pointer that gave Augustana a 23-13 lead.
• Northwest Missouri State then scored seven straight to cut the lead to three again at 23-20 after two straight jumpers from Grant Cozad.
• Augustana ended the first half on a 9-4 run to take a 32-24 lead into the half.
• The Vikings shot 52 percent from the field in the first half and had seven of eight players record at least two points.
• Daniel Jansen and Casey Schilling each scored seven points in the first half.
• Northwest Missouri State shot 37 percent (10 of 27) from the field in the half, hitting 3 of 10 from 3-point range.
• Northwest Missouri State came out strong in the second half behind the hot hand of Zach Schneider.
• Schneider hit two 3-pointers on an 8-2 run in the first 1:02 of the half to cut Augustana's lead to 34-32.
• Schneider hit another 3-pointer a minute later to cut the lead to one at 36-35 but the Vikings quickly pushed it back to five at 40-35 with 17:19 remaining in the game.
• The Bearcats came all the way back to tie the game at 40 with 15:37 to play, going on a 16-8 run over the first four minutes of the second half.
• Northwest Missouri State took its first lead of the game at 42-41 on a basket by Brett Dougherty and was able to build a five-point lead at 49-44 after another 3-pointer from Schneider with 11:40 to play.
• The Bearcats led by as much as eight but a Daniel Jansen 3-pointer sparked an 11-2 run over the next 2:16 and the Vikings regained the lead on a putback by Schilling to make the score 57-56 with 7:03 to play.
• The Vikings extended their lead to three at 59-56 and held Northwest Missouri State scoreless for five minutes before Brett Dougherty scored on a layup to get the Bearcats within one at 59-58 with 3:16 to play.
• Augustana was scoreless for a six-minute stretch and Northwest Missouri State took a 60-59 lead on a jumper by Conner Crooker with 1:06 to play.
• That is where the score would stay until Pitts hit two free throws to put the Bearcats up 62-59 with 28 seconds left.
• Casey Schilling made it a one point game with 17 seconds left but Pitts would go to the line for four more to ice the game.
• Alex Richter made a basket with one second left but the time ran out on the Vikings as the Bearcats held on for the 66-65 win.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Daniel Jansen set the single season scoring record finishing the year with 671 points.
• Jansen led the Vikings with 20 points, registering his 19th 20-point game this season (31st career).
• Jordan Spencer finished with 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.
• Spencer dished out five or more assists in the last 15 straight games on the season.
• Casey Schilling added 12 points, six rebounds and four assists while going 5 of 6 from the field.
• Augustana finished the game shooting 51 percent from the field. This is the first time this season the Vikings have lost when shooting better than 50 percent.
• The Vikings finished 6 of 20 (30 percent) from 3-point range.
• Augustana made its 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.
• The Vikings advanced to the semifinals of the region tournament for the sixth time in program history.
• The Vikings are now 10-14 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.  
• Augustana won a school record 31 games in 2014-15.