SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 5 Augustana University men's basketball won its first outright conference championship since 1977-78 securing the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Regular Season Championship with a 98-77 win over Upper Iowa University (14-16, 10-11 NSIC) on Friday night.
 
Augustana has now won back-to-back NSIC Championships. The Vikings shared the regular season conference championship last season.
 
The Vikings improved to 23-2 on the season, including 20-1 in NSIC play, tying the single season record for conference wins in a season. Augustana set the single season record with 20 NSIC wins last season.
 
Augustana had five players in double-figures on the night, led by Daniel Jansen who scored 27 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
 
Casey Schilling added 18 points and seven rebounds while Jordan Spencer pitched in with 12 to go with his nine assists and six rebounds. Adam Beyer and Alex Richter each added 10 points on the night.
 
Augustana finished the night shooting 56.7 percent (34 of 60) from the field, including 13 of 29 from 3-point range.
 
The Vikings raced out to a 14-3 lead in the first four-plus minutes of the game behind 14 points from Jansen and Schilling. Jansen scored Augustana's first seven points of the game and after some great ball movement, Schilling found Jansen at the top of the key for his second 3-pointer of the night giving the Vikings an 11 point lead forcing Upper Iowa to spend an early timeout.
 
The big lead didn't last long as the Peacocks caught fire from 3-point range and were able to cut Augustana's lead down to five over the next five minutes.
 
Jernell Hughes knocked down four first-half 3-pointers for Upper Iowa helping his team cut into a double-digit lead.
 
Matthew Brazendale stopped the Upper Iowa run with a 3-pointer from the left wing that started a 7-0 Augustana run allowing the Vikings to push the lead back up to double-digits at 34-22.
 
Upper Iowa answered right back with a 23-8 run over the next six minutes to take its first lead of the game at 45-42 with 2:36 remaining in the first half.
 
The Vikings closed-out the half on a 14-2 run, including getting eight straight points from Alex Richter in the final minute to go into the locker room with a 56-47 lead.
 
Jansen led all players with 20 points in the first half on 6 of 9 shooting while hitting two 3-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws. The Vikings finished the half shooting 58 percent (20 of 34) from the field, including 8 of 17 from 3-point range.
 
Upper Iowa was 14 of 26 from the field and hit 7 of 15 3-pointers. Hughes led the Peacocks with 16 first-half points.
 
Upper Iowa hung around for the first six minutes of the second half until the Viking offense proved to be too strong. Schilling hit a corner three to snap an 11-11 tie through the first four-plus minutes of the half, and the Vikings went on to score six straight to stretch the lead to 15 at 73-58 with 11:35 to play.
 
The Peacocks got as close as 11 throughout the remainder of the game but couldn't keep the Vikings off the free throw line as Augustana was able to extend its margin to 17 at 86-69 with just under five minutes left.
 
Augustana will put an end to the regular season tomorrow night hosting Winona State at 6 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena. Prior to tipoff on Saturday, the Vikings will honor seniors Darren Glover, Tanner Odegaard, Alex Richter, Casey Schilling and Daniel Jansen.