SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 5 Augustana University men's basketball (22-2, 19-1 NSIC) heads into the final weekend of NSIC play with a two-game lead over MSU Moorhead for the overall NSIC Championship. The Vikings secured at least a share of the regular season title with a pair of road wins last weekend and will host Upper Iowa and Winona State this Friday and Saturday for a shot at its first outright conference championship since winning the North Central Conference in 1977-78.
 
Augustana shared the NCC title in 1961-62 and 1988-89 and the NSIC title last season.
 
Augustana and Upper Iowa (14-15, 10-10 NSIC) will tip-off at 8 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena on Friday. The Vikings will then square-off against Winona State (13-11, 12-8 NSIC) on Senior Night at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Prior to Saturday's game against the Warriors, Augustana will honor Darren Glover, Tanner Odegaard, Alex Richter, Casey Schilling and Daniel Jansen.  

General admission for both games this weekend are just $5, with kids GA tickets for just $2. To purchase tickets, click HERE.
 
Storylines
• Augustana swept a pair of road games at Southwest Minnesota State and USF last weekend to improve to 22-2 on the season, including 19-1 in NSIC play
• With the two wins, Augustana clinched at least a share of the NSIC Overall Championship
• A win on Friday would secure the outright NSIC Championship for the Vikings
• Augustana entered the weekend with a two-game lead over MSU Moorhead in the overall NSIC standings
• The Vikings were ranked fifth in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll
• Augustana has spent 22 straight weeks in the top 10 of the NABC poll dating back to Jan. 13 of last season
• Augustana has been ranked in the top 25 of the NABC poll for 28 straight weeks
• The Vikings enter the weekend averaging 92.1 points per game which leads the NSIC and ranks sixth in the country
• Augustana has out-scored its opponents by 19.6 points per game in 2015-16 which leads the NSIC and ranks second in the country
• Augustana has dished out 19.3 assists per game this season which leads the NSIC and ranks third in the nation
• Augustana leads the country with a 1.91 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Vikings have the fewest turnovers (243) amongst all teams in the NSIC
• Augustana enters the weekend ranked second in the NSIC averaging 39.5 rebounds per game
• Augustana has out-rebounded its opponents by 7.3 boards per game which leads the NSIC and ranks 13th in the country
• Augustana is shooting 50.1 percent from the field as a team, which leads the NSIC and ranks 10th in the country
• The Vikings lead the NSIC and rank fourth in the nation shooting 42.6 percent from 3-point range
• Senior forward Casey Schilling was named the NSIC's South Division Player of the Week for the second straight week and the fourth time this season on Monday
• Schilling averaged 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks to help Augustana to a 2-0 record last week
• Schilling enters the weekend nearly averaging a double-double on the season, currently averaging 19.5 points and a league-leading 9.8 rebounds per game
• Daniel Jansen became the first player in program history to go over 2,000 career points last weekend
• Jansen currently leads the team averaging 20.0 points per game to go along with 8.0 rebounds per contest
• Earlier this week, Jansen and Schilling were named to the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List
• The Bevo Francis Award Top 25 finalists will be announced on March 15 by Small College Basketball
• Senior Alex Richter is averaging 14.0 points and 3.6 rebounds per game for the Vikings this season while shooting 55 percent from the field and 51 percent from 3-point range
• Richter has scored in double-digits in six of the last seven games for the Vikings
• Junior guard Adam Beyer is averaging 9.1 points, 3.1 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 56.2 percent from the field, including 53.2 percent from 3-point range for the Vikings
• Sophomore guard Jordan Spencer has scored in double-digits in three of the last four games
• Spencer enters the weekend averaging 9.0 points and a league-leading 7.0 assists per game
• Spencer currently ranks fourth in the country in assists per game and leads the country with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.80
 
About Upper Iowa
• Upper Iowa enters the weekend with a record of 14-15 on the season, including 10-10 in NSIC play
• The Peacocks were swept at home last weekend, falling 87-79 to Concordia-St. Paul and 88-83 to Minnesota State
• Upper Iowa is averaging 81.9 points per game while allowing 81.7 per contest in 2015-16
• Upper Iowa is shooting 45 percent from the field as a team, including 35.8 percent from 3-point range
• Upper Iowa is shooting 70.2 percent from the free throw line, averaging 18.8 made free throws per game
• Upper Iowa averages 35.2 rebounds, 12.4 assists, 12.8 turnovers, 5.4 steals and 3.0 blocks per game
• Jimmy Roth leads Upper Iowa in scoring averaging 13.2 ppg to go along with 4.7 rpg
 
About Winona State
• Winona State enters the weekend with a record of 13-11 on the season, including 12-8 in NSIC play
• The Warriors played at Wayne State on Friday night
• Winona State enters the weekend averaging 71.8 points per game while allowing just 69.5 ppg
• The Warriors are shooting 46.5 percent from the field as a team, including 37.9 percent from 3-point range
• WSU has shot 74.6 percent from the free throw line and is averaging 11.4 made free throws per game
• WSU is averaging 35.9 rebounds, 12.9 assists, 5.3 steals and 3.1 blocks per game
• Kyle Bauman leads the Warriors in scoring (14.7 ppg) and rebounding (6.3 rpg)