SIOUX FALLS – The Augustana men outscored Minnesota State 48-28 in the second half of Saturday's Northern Sun tilt at the Sioux Falls Arena to force the Vikings second straight overtime game, but the Mavericks outscored the Vikings 16-13 in the extra frame to secure the 94-91 win.
 
The loss drops the Vikings to 9-6 on the season overall, and to 4-5 in the NSIC, while Minnesota State improves to 11-3 overall and to 7-2 in conference play.
 
Minnesota State opened the game on a 17-0 run, a run snapped by Nolen Gerald with a tip-in, followed by a Jordan Spencer long two-point bucket to get the Vikings on the board, part of a 9-2 spurt that cut the lead to 19-9 with 12 minutes, 18 seconds left in the opening half, but the Mavericks kept pushing, and led 50-30 at halftime.
 
The Vikings refused to go down quietly, and used a 6-0 and a 7-0 run in the second half to cut the Minnesota State lead to 60-51 midway through the half. Five minutes later, a 9-0 Augustana run, capped by a Matt Cartwright triple with 4:27 left, cut the lead to 67-62, which drew a timeout from the Mavericks bench.
 
Minnesota State quelled the run out of the timeout, but the Vikings kept chipping away, and eventually tied the game at 76-all on a Marcus Asmus layup with 50 seconds left, and even though the Mavericks answered, Asmus buried a jumper with eight seconds left to force the overtime tied at 78.
 
Augustana scored first in the extra period, and led by as many as four points, but the Mavericks tied the game at 87 with 16 seconds left, got a stop and made their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
 
Along with leading the charge in the comeback, Asmus led all players in the game with 25 points, adding 9 rebounds. Spencer added 23 points and 9 assists, while John Warren finished with 15 points and Adam Dykman 11 points and 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.
 
Six Mavericks scored in double figures, led by Carlos Anderson and his 23 points off the bench. Charlie Brown scored 17, Kevin Krieger 14, Cameron Kirksey 13 and Cole Harper 11. Harper also pulled down 11 rebounds for the double-double.
 
The Vikings look to get back on the winning track on Saturday, when they take on Concordia-St. Paul at the Sioux Falls Arena at 6 p.m. Augustana beat the Golden Bears 75-56 on Dec. 1 in St. Paul.
 
NOTES: Friday's game marked the 2,181st game in program history … Minnesota State leads the all-time series with Augustana, which dates back to Jan. 12, 1933, 62-57 … the Vikings own a 145-58 all-time record in NSIC play … the Vikings led at some point in every game this season … Augustana played back-to-back overtime games for the first time since Jan. 10 and Jan. 12 2008, when they fell 98-97 in double-overtime at Nebraska-Omaha and won 95-90 over South Dakota at the Elmen Center in one overtime … Asmus scored at least 20 points in a game for the third time this season, and for the fourth time in his career … Spencer scored at least 20 points in a game for the fourth time this season and for the 15th time in his career … Dykman's double-double marked his second of the season and the second of his career