SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana University men's basketball begins postseason play on Wednesday night hosting a first round game in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament. The Vikings earned the No. 3 seed in the South Division and will host North Division No. 6 seed Bemidji State Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
Augustana finished the regular season with a record of 21-7, including 16-6 in conference play. Bemidji State enters the tournament with a record of 10-17. The Beavers finished the season 8-14 in conference play to earn the sixth seed in the North Division. 

NSIC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Augustana is the two-time defending NSIC Tournament Champions
• The Vikings won their first ever postseason tournament in 2014-15 before repeating as NSIC Tournament Champions last season
• Augustana is 10-6 all-time in the NSIC Tournament
• Augustana won its first NSIC Tournament game in 2013 with a first round win over Minnesota Duluth
• The NSIC Tournament moved to a 16-team tournament during the 2012-13 season
• Augustana has qualified for the NSIC Tournament each season since joining the NSIC in 2008-09

NCAA CENTRAL REGION RANKINGS
• Augustana was ranked No. 7 in the first release of the NCAA Central Region rankings on Wednesday, Feb. 15
• Northwest Missouri State earned the No. 1 spot in the first release of the region rankings
• Augustana was one of five NSIC teams ranked in the top 10 of the first region rankings
• Southwest Minnesota State was ranked third, MSU Moorhead fifth, Upper Iowa seventh, Augustana eighth and Northern State ninth
• The second set of NCAA Central Region rankings will be released on Wednesday, Feb. 22

NSIC PLAYER(s) OF THE WEEK
• Mike Busack was named the NSIC South Division Player of the Week for the third time this season on Monday
• Busack averaged 24.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 48.6 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from 3-point range
• He hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds against Winona State on Friday before matching his career-high in points (27) and rebounds (14) against Upper Iowa on Saturday
• Jordan Spencer has been named player of the week three times in 2016-17 (Nov. 28, Jan. 23 & Feb. 13)
• Augustana has had the NSIC South Division Player of the Week in three straight weeks
• Busack was named player of the week on Feb. 6, Spencer on Feb. 13 and Busack again on Feb. 20
• Busack was named player of the week for the first time in his career on Jan. 9
• Senior guard Adam Beyer was named the NSIC South Division Player of the Week on Dec. 5
• The player of the week honors marked the first career weekly honor from the NSIC for all three players

LAST TIME OUT
• Augustana ended the regular season on a high note with a pair of home wins to extend its current win streak to six games
• On Friday night against Winona State, Augustana jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never trailed the rest of the night picking up an 97-70 win
• The win gave Augustana its 20th of the season, marking the seventh time in the last 10 seasons Augustana has won 20 games
• The Vikings have won 20 or more games in three straight seasons
• Augustana out-rebounded Winona State 40-23 and finished the game shooting 48.3 percent from the field
• The Vikings knocked down 11 of 26 from 3-point range, making it three straight games with 10 or more 3-pointers
• Augustana entered the weekend ranked No. 8 in the NCAA Central Region and had a big date set for Saturday night against No. 7 Upper Iowa
• The Vikings went to overtime with Upper Iowa and came away victorious following a 92-87 win in front of 3,371 fans on Senior Night
• Upper Iowa held a seven point advantage at halftime and came out in the second half and matched every Viking attempt at closing the lead
• Augustana broke through with an 11-3 run to tie the game with 16:10 remaining and the two teams went on to play to seven more tie scores before needing overtime to decide a winner
• The Vikings came out firing in overtime, hitting 4 of 5 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, to build a six point lead at 86-80
• Augustana made all six of its free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the hard-fought 92-87 win

ABOUT AUGUSTANA
• Augustana is averaging 83.9 points per game which ranks third in the NSIC
• The Vikings have out-scored opponents by 10.8 points per game which ranks second in the NSIC and ranks 31st nationally
• Augustana is allowing just 73.1 points per game, the second-fewest in the NSIC
• Augustana is shooting 48.8 percent from the field as a team, including 40.7 percent from 3-point range
• Augustana is averaging 37.5 rebounds per game and owns a +6.1 rebound margin on the season
• The Vikings rank second in the NSIC and 20th in the country averaging 17.2 assists per game
• Augustana is averaging 6.2 steals per game which ranks fifth in the NSIC

ABOUT BEMIDJI STATE
• Bemidji State enters the NSIC Tournament with a record of 10-17 on the year
• The Beavers finished in sixth in the NSIC North Division standings with a record of 8-14 in NSIC play
• Bemidji State is averaging 76.1 points per game while allowing 79.4 points per contest
• BSU is shooting 46.5 percent from the field as a team, including 36.5 percent from 3-point range
• BSU averaged 13.8 made free throws per game and is shooting 69.9 percent from the stripe as a team
• BSU averages 35.6 rebounds per game and owns a +1.6 rebound margin on the year
• Jai'Vionne Green leads BSU in scoring averaging 16.6 points per game
• Green is shooting 46.6 percent from the field and has hit a team-high 50 3-pointers
• Ben Best is averaging 12.1 points and a team-high 5.1 rebounds per game for BSU
• Mike Boschee is in his fifth season as the head coach at BSU. He owns a career record of 179-189, including 64-74 at Bemidji State

SERIES HISTORY
• Augustana and Bemidji State will play for the second time this season and the 19th tim  all-time
• Augustana is 12-6 all-time against Bemidji State and has won four straight over the Beavers
• The Vikings have won 10 of the last 12 games between the two teams
• Augustana defeated Bemidji State 78-60 at the Sioux Falls Arena on Feb. 4