SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 2 Augustana University men's basketball fought its way through a physical contest and eventually wore down Minnesota Duluth (13-5, 9-3 NSIC) in a 95-66 win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night at the Sioux Falls Arena.
 
The Vikings improved to 15-1 on the season, including 12-0 in NSIC play extending their winning streak to 15 games on the season. Augustana has now won 24 straight home games.
 
Augustana nearly had three players finish with double-doubles on the night. Casey Schilling led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season (27th career). Schilling has now scored 1,641 career points and tonight moved into 10th all-time passing Bill Gross who scored 1,628 career points from 1969-73.
 
Daniel Jansen registered his fourth double-double of the season (17th career) finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The last time Augustana had two players record a double-double was March 3, 2015 when Schilling and Alex Richter each recorded one against MSU Moorhead in the NSIC Tournament last season.
 
Jordan Spencer nearly picked up a double-double finishing with eight points and a career-high tying 11 assists. Spencer has dished out 11 assists in back-to-back games giving him four double-digit assist performances on the season.
 
Freshman guard John Warren had a great shooting night off the bench scoring 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Adam Beyer pitched in with eight points, four assists and two blocks for the Vikings.
 
Augustana finished the game shooting 52.2 percent (36 of 69) from the field after shooting 40 percent in the first half. The Vikings connected on 5 of 10 3-pointers in the second half to finish 9 of 25 from behind the arc.
 
Augustana out-rebounded Minnesota Duluth 44-33 and out-scored the Bulldogs 46-24 in the paint.
 
UMD finished the night shooting 38 percent from the field hitting 24 of 63 shots, including 8 of 27 from behind the arc. Pierre Newton led the Bulldogs with 19 points on the night on 9 of 19 shooting.
 
The game started out as a back-and-forth affair as the Vikings were able to hold on to a 17-16 lead through the first eight-plus minutes of the contest. Augustana held a five-point lead over the UMD before the Bulldogs were able to make it a one-point game after a pair of free throws by Taylor Lavery.
 
UMD then hit back-to-back 3-pointers in transition on its next two possessions to gain its first lead of the night at 22-17. The Vikings scratched their way back and regained the lead getting five straight points from the free throw line but UMD's Kyle Schalow knotted things up for the fourth time of the half at 30-30 with his third 3-pointer with five minutes remaining in the first.
 
Augustana was able to hold the Bulldogs to just three points in the final four and a half minutes of the half to take a seven-point 40-33 lead at the break. The Vikings and Bulldogs got into a physical battle in the paint and the Vikings were able to gain a 24-20 edge on the glass.
 
Schilling was all over the boards for the Vikings grabbing seven rebounds to go along with 10 first-half points. Jansen finished with nine points and five rebounds and Beyer pitched in with eight points on 3 of 4 shooting.
 
Augustan shot 40 percent (14 of 35) from the field in the first half but was unable to get things going from 3-point range finishing just 4 of 15 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc.
 
The back-and-forth affair continued to start the second half as the Vikings were able to maintain a nine-point lead out-scoring the Bulldogs 19-17 in the first seven minutes of the half. The Vikings scored 14 of their 19 points in the paint during the stretch to maintain a 59-50 lead with 12:44 remaining in the game.
 
Warren knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers on consecutive possessions for the Vikings sparking a 15-6 Augustana run that allowed the Vikings to push their lead to double-digits at 74-56 with 7:13 to play.
 
The Vikings didn't slow down from there stretching the lead to 27 at 85-58 after back-to-back 3-pointers from Jansen and Schilling helping the Vikings cruise to a comfortable win after a tight 27 minutes of basketball.
 
Augustana will go back on the road next weekend traveling to Winona, Minn. and Fayette, Iowa for a pair of South Division match-ups.
 
The Vikings will take on Winona State at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 22 before squaring-off against Upper Iowa on Saturday at 6 p.m.