WAYNE, Neb. – The Augustana men's basketball team opened Northern Sun play on Monday night with a tough 80-75 loss at Wayne State, as the Wildcats got out to an early lead and held off the Vikings for the rest of the contest.
 
The loss, which snaps Augustana's eight game winning streak over Wayne State, drops the Vikings to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC, while the Wildcats improve to 3-1 overall and to 1-0 in conference play.
 
The Vikings opened the scoring with a Jordan Spencer 3-pointer less than a minute into the game, and even though the Wildcats answered with the next 10 points, Spencer snapped the run with a layup and then added another triple to cut the lead to 10-8, six minutes into the game.
 
The Wildcats quickly pushed the lead back to seven, and extended it up to as many as nine points in the first half, and even though the Vikings cut it to three points a couple of times, the Wildcats took a 36-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The second half started with six straight Vikings points, which cut the lead to 36-35 less than two minutes into the half on a Steven Schaefer layup, but the Wildcats responded with a 13-4 run to get the lead into double figures for the first time at 49-39 with 13:31 left in the game.
 
Down 70-58 with under three minutes left, the Vikings mounted one final charge to cut the Wayne State lead to 78-75 with 44 seconds left, but the Wildcats made enough free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
 
Spencer led all players in the game with 23 points, adding a team-high five assists, while John Warren added 17 points to round out the double figure scorers for the Vikings. Schaefer pitched in with eight points.
 
Kendall Jacks led a trio of Wildcats in double figures with 20 points, with Trevin Joseph adding 18 and Jordan Cornelius 13 points in the win.  
 
The Vikings look to regroup at home on Wednesday, when they host Doane in the Elmen Center at 4 p.m.
 
NOTES: The Vikings lead the all-time series with the Wildcats, 28-15 … Wayne State's last win over Augustana came on Jan. 15, 2013, a 64-63 win in Wayne, Nebraska … Augustana used the same five starters in all five games this season … Augie drops back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 30-31, 2016, the only time it happened last season … the Vikings finished with a 38-31 rebound advantage … Spencer scored at least 20 points for the third time this season, and for the 16th time in his career