SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 5 Augustana University men's basketball (24-2, 21-1 NSIC) set a single season NSIC record for conference wins with a 66-55 win over Winona State University (14-12, 13-9 NSIC) on Saturday night at the Sioux Falls Arena.
 
Augustana set the previous NSIC record for conference wins in a season with 20 last season. The Vikings are currently ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Central Region and will host Minnesota Crookston (3-23) in the first round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. at the Arena.
 
Augustana secured the NSIC Regular Season Championship outright with a win over Upper Iowa on Friday night for its second straight NSIC championship.
 
Casey Schilling led the Vikings with 20 points and 12 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season (32nd career). Alex Richter pitched in with 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting while hitting 3 of 6 from behind the arc.
 
Daniel Jansen pitched in with 13 points and six rebounds. Tanner Odegaard, who made his first career start, added eight points on 3 of 6 shooting, hitting 2 of 5 3-pointers.
 
Augustana finished the game shooting 42.3 percent (22 of 52) from the field, hitting 8 of 23 3-pointers. The Vikings hit 14 of 19 free throws. The Warriors forced Augustana into 17 turnovers on the night and were able to turn those into 21 points.
 
Winona State was 22 of 62 (35.5 percent) from the field and was led by Mark Blacklock's 17 points.  
 
Augustana got off to a fast start jumping out to a 24-9 lead in the first six minutes of the contest. The Vikings were hot from 3-point range hitting 4 of 5 from behind the arc to start the game.
 
The Vikings stretched the lead to 24-9 with a quick 11-5 run sparked by three triples in just under two minutes.
 
Winona State picked up the pressure on the defensive end and was able to go on a 13-0 run to cut Augustana's lead all the way down to two at 24-22 with 8:28 remaining in the half. The Vikings used a pair of transition threes from Richter to push the lead back up to five with four minutes left in the half and went into the locker room with a 33-29 lead.
 
The Vikings started hot from outside hitting 6 of 13 from behind the arc in the half. Augustana was 12 of 26 (46 percent) from the field. Schilling led the Vikings in scoring in the first half finishing with 14 points on 6 of 9 shooting to go along with four rebounds and three assists.
 
Augustana turned the ball over 12 times in the half and Winona State was able to score 13 points off of those turnovers. The Warriors were 13 of 30 from the field, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
 
The Vikings came out strong in the second half opening up a 14-4 run to build a 12-point lead at 47-35. Blacklock ended the run with a 3-pointer but the Vikings answered with four straight points to extend the lead to 14 at 57-43 with 7:20 to play.
 
The Warriors got within eight two more times on the night but the Vikings were able to pull away at the free throw line hitting four that stretched the lead back to double-digits and Spencer nailed a 3-pointer with just under a minute to play to put Augustana up by 13 at 66-53.
 
Augustana will enter the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament as the No. 1 seed out of the South Division and will host North Division No. 8 seed Minnesota Crookston on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. at the Arena.