SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The year didn't exactly end how the Augustana men hoped it would, but the Vikings did earn split in a pair of road games in the final days of 2017, and now they look to start 2018 with a couple of wins at home, starting on Friday against Minnesota State at 8 p.m., and then against Concordia-St. Paul on Saturday at 6 p.m., both at the Sioux Falls Arena.
Fans can watch Friday's game with the Mavericks live on Midco SN, with David Brown on the play-by-play and Brad Newitt as the analyst.
The Vikings host six of their eight games in January, five of them at the Arena, with the lone exception being the Jan. 26 game vs. Minnesota Duluth, when Augie hosts the Bulldogs at the Elmen Center.
The final weekend of 2017 started off well for the Vikings, who took the lead late in the first half and never trailed again in an 89-78 win at NSIC South favorite Southwest Minnesota State, a win that gave head coach
Tom Billeter his 280th win at Augustana.
The next day, on a brutally cold New Year's Eve, both Augustana and Sioux Falls struggled to score at the Stewart Center, and even though the Vikings led 24-18 at halftime, and scored six points in the final minute to force overtime, the hosts took control in the extra frame to secure the 70-61 win.
Vikings Quick Hits
• This week's games mark the 2,181st and 2,182nd games in program history
• Augustana enters the week with a 145-57 all-time record in NSIC play
• Augustana played its first game of the season on a Sunday on Dec. 31, at USF
• The Vikings played their second overtime game of the season last week at Sioux Falls
• Under head coach
Tom Billeter, the Vikings own a 16-8 all-time record in overtime, with a 1-1 mark this season
• The Vikings scored fewer than 70 points in a game for the first time this season on Sunday at USF
• Augustana's lone win when trailing at halftime this season came at Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 2
• The Vikings scored a season-low 24 first half points at Sioux Falls, but still led by six points at halftime
• Augustana beat Minnesota State, 35-31, on Dec. 8, 1937, the first game in a new on campus gym
• The Vikings used the same five starters in all 14 games this season
• Four of the five Vikings starters average at least 11 points per game (Spencer, Warren, Schaefer and Dykman)
• Six Vikings average at least 9.0 points per game (Spencer, Warren, Schaefer, Dykman, Asmus and Cartwright)
• Since returning to the Arena in 2014, the Vikings own a 36-4 record in the building
•
Jordan Spencer needs four assists to crack the 800 mark for his career
Noteworthy
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 36-4 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 217 points this season boost his total to 1,438, which ranks 14th all-time, 28 points shy of passing former teammate
Alex Richter (1,465 points from 2011-16) for 13th 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 108 assists so far this season, pushing his record total to 796.
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 17 steals this season give him 139, tied with former teammate
Daniel Jansen for 11th all-time, and four shy of passing Jon Wagner (142 steals from 1999-2004) for 10th all-time.
3-POINTER STREAK: Augustana made at least one 3-point field goal in each of the last 410 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 14 starts this season, for a total of 114 in his career.
VIKINGS IN DOUBLE FIGURES: At least one Viking score in double figures in each of the last 236 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
Following this weekend's action, the Vikings hit the road for the only time in January, with games at MSU Moorhead on Friday, and at Northern State on Saturday.
-- GoAugie.com --