SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Augustana opened the new year with a split at home, falling to Minnesota State on Friday before beating Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday. The Vikings now look to start their first winning streak of the new year, with games at MSU Moorhead and Northern State on the weekend slate.
 
The weekend kicks off with an 8 p.m. matchup against the Dragons in Moorhead, Minnesota, and then concludes against the No. 9 ranked Wolves in Aberdeen on Saturday at 6 p.m.
 
The Vikings narrowly missed a weekend sweep in the first game of 2018, falling in overtime to Minnesota State in overtime. Down 50-30 at halftime, Augustana used a furious rally to tie the game twice in the final minute, the last time tying the game at 78-all in the final 10 seconds to force overtime.
 
Augustana took its first lead of the game in the overtime, but the Mavericks made all eight of their free throws in the extra frame, and the Vikings shot at the buzzer to send the game to a second overtime missed it mark, giving the visitors the 94-91 win.
 
Up 28-27 at halftime, the Vikings used a 12-2 second half run in Saturday's rematch with Concordia-St. Paul to put to rest any hopes of a Golden Bears upset in the Sioux Falls Arena, and secure the season sweep for Augustana.
 
Vikings Quick Hits
• This week's games mark the 2,184th and 2,185th games in program history
• Augustana enters the week with a 146-58 all-time record in NSIC play
• The Vikings played back-to-back overtime games for the first time since 2008
• Under head coach Tom Billeter, the Vikings own a 16-9 all-time record in overtime, with a 1-2 mark this season
• Billeter needs two more wins to reach 380 for his career
• Augustana led at some point in all 16 games this season
• Vikings opponents lead at some point in all but two games this season; Nov. 15, at Chadron State, Jan. 6, vs. CSP
• The Vikings used the same five starters in all 16 games this season
• Augustana committed a season-low six turnovers on Saturday vs. Concordia-St. Paul
• Four of the five Vikings starters average at least 11 points per game (Spencer, Warren, Schaefer and Dykman)
• Jordan Spencer surpassed the 800 career assists mark on Friday vs. Minnesota State
• Spencer moved into 13th all-time in scoring at Augustana on Saturday vs. Concordia-St. Paul
• Spencer's 124 assists this season puts him in a tie for second nationally, one fewer than the national leader
 
ARENA SWEET ARENA: The Vikings returned to the Sioux Falls Arena for the 2014-15 season, and rattled off 29 straight wins on the new/old home floor. The Vikings now own a 37-5 record in the Arena since returning in 2014.
 
CLIMBING THE LADDER: Senior Jordan Spencer entered the season ranked 20th in all-time scoring at Augustana with 1,221 career points. His 259 points this season boost his total to 1,480, which ranks 13th all-time, 31 points shy of passing former Brett Szabo (1,510 points from 1987-91) for 12th all-time.
 
DISH IT OUT: Along with being a prolific scorer for the Vikings, Jordan Spencer entered his senior season with a school-record 688 assists, and a 6.8 assists per game average. The dynamic distributor added 124 assists so far this season, pushing his record total to 812.
 
STOP, THEIF!: He scores, he assists and he steals. Jordan Spencer came into the season tied for 17th all-time at Augustana with 122 steals, but his 20 steals this season give him 142, tied with Jon Wagner (1999-04) for 10th all-time, and three shy of passing Scott Beckstrand (144 steals from 1990-94) for 9th all-time.
 
3-POINTER STREAK: Augustana made at least one 3-point field goal in each of the last 412 games. The last time the Vikings did not make a 3-pointer came on Jan. 24, 2004, a 79-69 loss against North Dakota in the Elmen Center.
 
FINISH WHAT YOU START: Already a starter in 100 games in his career coming into the season, Spencer needs to start 30 games this season to set the school-record for career starts, a record held by Daniel Jansen (129 starts from 2012-16). He enters the week 16 starts this season, for a total of 116 in his career.
 
VIKINGS IN DOUBLE FIGURES: At least one Viking score in double figures in each of the last 238 games. The last time an Augie player did not score at least 10 points in a game came on March 3, 2010, in a 75-52 loss to Wayne State at the Elmen Center in the NSIC Quarterfinals, when Lee Stephens led the Vikings with 8 points.
 
WHERE DID THE POINTS GO? Over the last two seasons, Augustana graduated a total of 9,150 career points from a total of eight student-athletes, which includes five 1,000-point scorers, two of which scored at least 2,000 career points.
 
Next Up
The return home next weekend to start a four game homestand, starting with Upper Iowa on Jan. 19, followed by Winona State on Jan. 20, both at the Sioux Falls Arena.