WINONA, Minn. -- Playing their first true road game of the season, the Augustana men's basketball wasn't fazed by a hyped-up crown at McCown Gymnasium. Trailing by six at the half, the Vikings stormed back in the second and closed the game on a 20-7 run to pick up their first NSIC win, 88-80, over Winona State on Friday night. Augustana improves to 4-3 (1-1 NSIC) as Winona State drops to 4-3 (1-1)

The Vikings were led by five players who dropped double-figures, including a game-high 21 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists from Matt Cartwright. Tyler Riemersma locked in his second double-double of the year with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, Jameson Bryan totaled a season-high 12 points, Dylan LeBrun had 11, and Trevor Hanson chipped in 10 points and 3 rebounds. The Vikings shot a crisp 65.6% (21-32) in the second half, marking the first time the program has shot above 60% in a half since Jan. 13th, 2018 (60% vs. Northern State).

Augustana head coach Tom Billeter was proud of the continuous effort and execution from his team on Friday. "That was a good team win against a very good Winona State team," Billeter said, "unfortunately, we can only enjoy it for about five minutes as we have a really tough game ahead of us at Upper Iowa. I thought our guys played hard to hang in there down 10 and then we started to make some shots and we got ourselves back in it."

Friday's tip-off opened with both teams starting off rough from the field, as the Vikings hit just 2-8 shots and Winona State opened 3-10. With the Warriors ahead 9-2, the Vikings started to heat up. Riemersma hit a turnaround jumper in the paint, and following a Cartwright jumper and LeBrun three, the Viking had tied the game up at 11-11.

Winona State retook the lead, but midway through the 1st, Tayton Vincent buried a three, and the Vikings took their first lead at 17-15. The Warriors, who also got five players in double-figures, answered late to close the half strong. Caleb Wagner scored inside and by halftime, Winona State had a 38-32 lead. 

The second half would prove to be a different story. Although the Warriors maintained an early lead, five minutes in the Vikings started to chip away. Riemersma, who scored 17 of his 19 points in the final 20 minutes, scored back-to-back layups to make it a 48-47 game. 

With less than 9 minutes to play and the Vikings down 7, Bryan stepped into a Warrior passing lane and picked off the pass. The sophomore finished on the other end for a layup and brought it back to a five-point game.

Trailing 73-68 with less than four minutes to go, the Vikings made their biggest statement of the night. With seconds left on the shot clock, Hanson pulled the trigger from 30 feet away and drained a big-time triple. Following a stop and back-to-back buckets from Riemersma and Hanson, the Vikings had capped off a 10-0 run and took control with a 78-73 lead.

The games final minutes featured buckets on both ends, but the Vikings wouldn't be denied as they went onto to outlast the Warriors for an 88-80 win. 

In total, the Vikings shot a season-high 55.2% from the field and scored 34 points in the paint. Augustana out-rebounded Winona State 35-30 and finished the night with 12 assists and four steals. 

The Vikings will now stay on the road as they visit Fayette, Iowa on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off with Upper Iowa. The game is available for free on GoAugie.com/live.