ABERDEEN, S.D. – Senior Marcus Asmus set career-highs with four 3-pointers and with 28 points, but the No. 9 ranked Northern State Wolves outlasted the Augustana men on Saturday, 89-78 at Wachs Arena.
 
The Vikings fall to 11-7 overall and to an even 6-6 in the Northern Sun, while the Wolves 17th straight win boosts their record to 18-1 overall and keeps their conference mark unblemished at 12-0.
 
The Vikings came out hot, opening on a 7-0 run, with an and-1 from Adam Dykman, a dunk from Asmus and a breakaway layup from John Warren, which drew a timeout from the Northern State bench less than two minutes into the contest.
 
Asmus hit a jumper out of the timeout to make it a 9-0 run before the Wolves answered with seven straight points to cut the lead to 9-7, and then used a 12-0 run later in the half to take a 22-17 lead, prompting a timeout from the Augustana bench with 11:31 remaining the first half.
 
Down as many as nine points, the Vikings used a 12-2 run later in the half to take a 40-39 lead with just over two minutes left in the frame, but the Wolves answered with a 3-pointer to retake the lead at 42-40 at halftime.
 
An 8-0 Augustana spurt early in the second half gave the Vikings a 48-47 lead, but the Wolves fired right back with an 11-0 run to build their largest lead of the game at 58-48 with 13:47 left, and even though the Vikings would fight back to cut the lead to 63-60 with 10:15 left, the Wolves countered with seven straight points to get it back to a 10-point lead and led comfortably the rest of the way.
 
Asmus added a game-high nine rebounds to his career-high 28 points, while Schaefer finished with 19 points. Spencer pitched in with eight points and a game-high nine assists.
 
DJ Pollard led the Wolves with 18 points, with Cole Dahl adding 15 and both Logan Doyle and Andrew Kallman 14 points in the win.
 
Augustana returns home Friday to start a four game homestand, starting with Upper Iowa on Friday at 8 p.m., followed by Winona State on Saturday at 6 p.m., both at the Sioux Falls Arena.
 
 
NOTES: Saturday's game marked the 2,185th game in program history … Augustana leads the all-time series with Northern State, 40-36, with the Wolves taking an 18-17 advantage in Aberdeen … the Vikings started the same five players for all 18 games and also held a lead at some point in all 18 games this season … Augustana played a ranked team for the first time since March 12, 2017, when it fell to top-ranked, and eventual national champion, Northwest Missouri State … Asmus topped his previous career-high of 26, set vs. MSU Moorhead exactly one year ago, on Jan. 13, 2017 … Spencer moved into 12th all-time in scoring at Augustana with 1,512 points, passing Brett Szabo (1,510 points from 1987-91)