SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 25 Augustana University men's basketball (5-1) hit a season-high 15 3-pointers and got a career-high 23 points from sophomore
John Warren in an 89-66 win over Peru State College on Friday afternoon at the Elmen Center. Today's game was an exhibition contest for Peru State.
Augustana has now won 35 consecutive home games, including five straight at the Elmen Center.
Augustana had four players in double-figures, including
Jordan Spencer who recorded his third career double-double. Spencer scored 11 points to go along with 10 assists and six rebounds.
Mike Busack added 15 points and four rebounds and Steven Schafer added 11 points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench for the Vikings.
Augustana out-rebounded Peru State 46-27 while scoring 28 second-chance points. The Vikings scored 32 points in the paint and finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field. Augustana was 34 of 69 from the field and hit a season-high 15 3-pointers on 32 attempts.
Peru State finished the game shooting 44 percent (26 of 59) from the field, including 10 of 29 from 3-point range. Matej Delinac led the Bobcats with 17 points and five rebounds. Marley Biyendolo added 13 points and five assists for Peru State.
Augustana knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the transition offense to help build a 14-8 lead early in the contest. The Viking started 5 of 9 from the field and took the six-point lead when Spencer found Beyer for the pull up 3-pointer with just over six minutes gone in the half.
Peru State scored 13 of the game's next 18 points while the Vikings cooled off a bit from the field. The Bobcats took a 17-16 lead on a 3-pointer by Delinac but
Steven Schaefer answered with his first triple of the game on the next possession to regain the lead for the Vikings.
Schaefer knocked down his second 3-pointer of the half to get the lead back in Augustana's favor with 8:58 remaining in the half but PSC's Delinac answered with his fourth triple of the half and the two teams continued to trade leads.
The Vikings regained the lead on a basket by Busack at 25-24 with 8:11 left in the half and the Vikings scored nine straight points over a four-minute stretch to take an eight-point lead at 32-24.
Augustana extended its run to 14-0 and went in front by 13 at 37-24 after
John Warren picked up a steal and went in all alone finishing with the two-handed slam. Peru State scored 12 of the game's next 15 points to get back within four with 36 seconds remaining but Spencer corralled a missed 3-pointer and knocked down a triple from the corner just before the buzzer rang allowing Augustana to take a 43-36 lead into halftime.
Warren had the hot hand for the Vikings in the first half putting up 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range. Busack added 10 points in the first period while Spencer scored six to go along with seven assists and five rebounds.
Augustana finished the half shooting 45.7 percent (16 of 35) from the field, hitting 9 of 17 from 3-point range. Augustana scored 16 points off of 11 Peru State turnovers, while also scoring 14 points in transition.
Peru State was led by Delinac's 14 first-half points. Delinac was 5 of 7 from the field and hit 4 of 5 3-pointers. The Bobcats shot 50 percent (14 of 28) from the field and hit 6 of 14 (43 percent) from behind the arc.
The Vikings came out strong on the defensive end in the second half and opened up an 18-point lead after an 11-run through the first two minutes of the period. With the Vikings leading 54-36, Peru State went on a 15-7 run over the next four minutes to cut Augustana's lead to 10 at 61-51 after a 3-pointer by Biyendolo.
Warren continued his strong play for the Vikings answering the Peru State 3-pointer with his fifth of the game and the Vikings went on to out-score the Bobcats 14-3 over the next three minutes to build a 21-point lead of 75-54 with 8:38 to play.
Augustana led by as much as 26 in the second half and the Vikings cruised to the 89-66 win over Peru State to improve to 5-1 on the season.
The Vikings will return to Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play next weekend hosting Concordia-St. Paul and Minnesota State at the Sioux Falls Arena. The Vikings and Golden Bears will tip-off at 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2. Augustana and Minnesota State will square-off at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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