FAYETTE, Iowa – No. 2 Augustana University men's basketball hit 11 3-pointers and shot 59 percent from the field in the first half and held off a second-half Upper Iowa comeback for a 96-87 win over the Peacocks on Saturday night. Daniel Jansen registered third straight double-double finishing with a season-high 31 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Vikings past the Peacocks (11-12, 7-7 NSIC).

The win gave Augustana (17-1, 14-0 NSIC) its 17th straight victory. This is also the first time since joining the NSIC in 2008 that Augustana has defeated Winona State and Upper Iowa on the road on the same weekend. The Vikings defeated Winona State 75-62 on Friday night.

Augustana led by by two at 89-87 with 2:04 to play but Jansen hit a 3-pointer before the shot clock expired with 49 seconds remaining in the game to put his team up by five. The Vikings held Upper Iowa scoreless over the final two minutes of the game holding on for the 96-87 victory hitting four free throws in the final minute.

The 30-point performance by Jansen marks the fifth of his career, including his second career 31-plus point game at Upper Iowa. Jansen scored a career-high 37 points at Upper Iowa on Feb. 21, 2014. Jansen has now scored 1,901 career points becoming just the second player in program history to score 1,900-plus points. Jansen is just 64 points shy of passing Augustana's all-time leading scorer Cameron McCaffrey who scored 1,964 career points from 2009-13.

Senior Alex Richter scored 20 points for his sixth 20-point performance of the season to go along with a season-high nine rebounds. Augustana had four players in double-figures with Casey Schilling adding 12 points and eight boards and Adam Beyer pitching in with 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range.

Jordan Spencer added eight points and five assists for the Vikings marking his 17th game of the season dishing out five or more assists.

The Vikings were on fire in the first half, hitting 11 of their 14 3-pointers on the night in the first frame. Augustana was just 10 of 27 (37 percent) in the second half, including 3 of 11 (27 percent) from behind the arc.

Upper Iowa caught fire from 3-point range on Saturday finishing 19 of 43 from downtown. The 19 3-pointers allowed by Augustana is the most since Northern State hit 16 against the Vikings on Feb. 15, 2014.

The Peacocks were led by Jernell Hughes who finished the night with 32 points on 12 of 19 shooting, including 7 of 12 from three. Josh Weeber added 17 points for UIU hitting 5 of 9 from behind the arc.

Augustana was on fire from behind the arc through the first four minutes of the game knocking down four of its first five from 3-point range to build an early 12-point lead. Jansen hit a triple on the Vikings first possession of the game and the Vikings closed-out a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer from Richter that gave Augustana a 12-3 lead forcing an early Upper Iowa timeout.

The Vikings continued to push the pace building a 20-8 lead through the first four minutes of the game. Upper Iowa looked to match Augustana's style in the first half and was able to keep up with Augustana through the midway point of the first half.

Luke Lenhart hit a 3-pointer with 7:22 left in the half that brought Upper Iowa within seven at 40-33 but the Vikings continued to stay hot from 3-point range to build the lead back up to double-digits where it would stay going into halftime.

Augustana finished the half hitting 11 of 17 3-pointers with eight different players hitting at least one shot from behind the arc. Austin Saugstad hit a triple that gave Augustana a 10-point lead after Lenhart's 3-pointer and quickly the Vikings pushed the lead to 15 when Schilling scored on the fastbreak and Tanner Odegaard knocked down a 3-pointer to put Augustana in front 48-33 with 5:27 to go in the half.

Richter corralled a rebound and dropped one in with five seconds remaining in the half to give Augustana a 59-46 lead at the break. Augustana finished the half shooting 59.5 percent (22 of 37) from the field. Richter finished the half with 10 points on 4 of 8 shooting, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range, and Jansen led the Vikings with 16 points.

Upper Iowa shot the ball well in the first half as well finishing 18 of 33 (54.5 percent) from the field hitting 9 of 18 3-pointers.

Augustana pushed its lead to 15 right away in the second half but the Peacocks kept things interesting going on a 16-3 run over a five-plus minute stretch to cut Augustana's lead down to two at 67-65 with 12:33 to play in the game. UIU's Josh Weeber hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get his team within two but the Peacocks missed their next three shots and the Vikings were able to push the lead back up to seven after a 7-2 over the next 1:44 that put Augustana up 74-67 with 9:37 to play.

Upper Iowa would go on to hit five of its 10 second-half 3-pointers in the next seven minutes cutting Augustana's lead all the way down to two with 2:04 to play. During the stretch, Augustana led by as much as nine, and held a seven-point lead four times before Hughes connected on two deep treys to get Upper Iowa within two.

The biggest 3-pointer of the night came with just 49 seconds left as Jansen knocked down his third of the night to give Augustana a 92-87 lead forcing Upper Iowa to foul the rest of the way.

Augustana returns home for a pair of games against North Division NSIC opponents next Saturday and Sunday at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Vikings will take on U-Mary at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30 before welcoming Minot State on Sunday at 3 p.m.