WINONA, Minn. – Steven Schaefer hit a 3-pointer with 5:12 to play giving Augustana University men's basketball its first lead since three minutes into the contest and the Vikings held on to defeat Winona State University (8-10, 5-9 NSIC) 73-71 on Saturday night.
 
Jordan Spencer hit a pair of free throws with four seconds left to give Augustana (14-6, 9-5 NSIC) a 73-70 lead before Adam Beyer was called for a foul with 0.5 seconds left on a Riley Bambenek 3-point attempt before the buzzer. Bambenek hit the first of three free throws but missed the second, before intentionally missing the third, and the Vikings escaped with the road win to salvage the weekend split.
 
Spencer led the Vikings in scoring for the second straight night, finishing with 22 points to go along with seven assists and three rebounds. With his first basket of the night, Spencer hit the 1,000 career point mark becoming the 34th player in Augustana men's basketball history to score 1,000-plus career points. Spencer has scored 1,019 points in 88 career games in a Viking uniform.
 
Augustana had four players in double-figures as Zach Huisken, Steven Schaefer and Marcus Asmus all pitched in with 10.
 
Mike Busack added six points and eight rebounds while Adam Beyer pitched in with eight points and three assists.
 
The Vikings finished the game shooting 46 percent (29 of 63) from the field, including 7 of 26 (26.9 percent) from behind the arc. After going 0 for 1 from the free throw line in the first half, the Vikings finished 8 of 11, including two big late ones by Spencer.
 
Tommy Gathje led a group of four players in double-figures with 19 points. Winona State shot 49 percent (25 of 51) from the field and hit 7 of 19 3-pointers. Augustana out-rebounded Winona State 35-29 and scored 34 points in the paint.
 
The Vikings got a big contribution from the bench tonight, getting 20 points, all from Schaefer and Asmus.
 
The Vikings jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead forcing Winona State to burn an early timeout. The Warriors re-grouped and used a 12-2 run over the next 4:32 to build a 12-6 lead. WSU pushed its lead up to six at 17-11 before Spencer scored five straight for the Vikings to make it a three-point game at 19-16 with 10:58 to play in the half.
 
The two teams then went nearly three minutes without a bucket before Zach Huisken ended the drought with a layup to make the score 19-18 with eight minutes remaining in the half. Winona State went 5 for its next 7 from the field and built its largest lead of the half at 32-23 forcing the Vikings to burn a timeout.
 
Winona State pushed its lead to double-digits and led by as much as 12 before the Vikings scored six straight to cut the lead to seven at 40-33 with 33 seconds remaining in the half. Connor Flack hit one of two free throws with two seconds left to give the Warriors a 41-33 halftime lead.
 
The Vikings shot 44.1 percent (15 of 34) from the field in the first half, connecting on 3 of 15 3-point field goals. Augustana got to the free throw line just once in the first frame and went 0 for 1.
 
Spencer hit a 3-pointer on his first bucket of the night to give him 1,000 points for his career and he went on to lead the Vikings with 10 points and four assists in the first half. Huisken and Marcus Asmus each pitched in with six first-half points for Augustana.  
 
Winona State shot 57.1 percent (16 of 28) from the field, including 5 of 12 from behind the arc. Tommy Gathje put up 14 first-half points for the Warriors while grabbing four rebounds.
 
The Warriors scored five straight to open the second half building a 13-point lead at 46-33 but the Vikings chipped away over the next four minutes to get within seven at 50-43 after a long jumper by Beyer with 14:49 to play.
 
Asmus scored four straight points to put the Vikings on an 8-0 run that got Augustana within three at 50-47. The Warriors stretched their lead back up to seven but the two teams settled in for a back-and-forth affair over the next four minutes.
 
Augustana got within one twice during a three-minute span and were within two after Busack knocked down a three from the top of the key to make the score 63-61 with 5:47 to play. The Vikings held strong on the defensive end and were rewarded on the offensive end when Schaefer knocked down his second 3-pointer of the night to give Augustana a 64-63 lead, its first since three minutes into the game.
 
The Vikings led by as much as four in the final five minutes of the contest and saw Winona State get back within one with 58 seconds to play after a 3-pointer by Josh Mongan. Leading 71-70, Spencer launched a 3-pointer before the shot clock expired and Huisken came up with a huge offensive board swatting the ball to Warren. Spencer was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to put the Vikings up three with four seconds left.
 
Beyer contested Bambenek's 3-point attempt before the buzzer and got too much, sending him to the line with 0.5 seconds left and a chance to tie. After hitting the first, Bambenek missed the second and the third and the Vikings escaped with the 73-71 lead after trailing by 13 in the second half.
 
Augustana will close-out its four-game road trip next weekend with a pair of games. The Vikings play at Minnesota Duluth at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 27 before squaring-off against St. Cloud State on Saturday at 6 p.m. in St. Cloud, Minnesota.