SIOUX FALLS – The Augustana men played their final home game of the regular season on Saturday, and for the second straight night, they fought to the bitter end, but came up short on senior night by an 81-77 margin against Southwest Minnesota State.
 
The loss drops the Vikings to 13-11 on the season overall, and to 8-10 in NSIC play, while the Mustangs improve to 19-7 overall, and to 15-5 in conference action.
 
Augustana took an early lead, scoring four straight points after the Mustangs opened with a 3-pointer. From there, Southwest Minnesota State scored six in-a-row go to up 9-4, which marked the second of six first half lead changes.
 
Four of the six lead changes all came in a four minute span in the middle of the half, before the Mustangs emerged with a 22-21 lead with 8 minutes, 37 seconds left in the opening half, and while the Vikings did force a trio of ties at 22, 24 and 30-all, the Mustangs held on for a 34-33 halftime lead.
 
An Adam Dykman 3-pointer to open the second half put the Vikings in front, but the Mustangs answered with six straight points regain the lead at 40-36 early in the half, a lead they would not give up for the rest of the contest.
 
The Vikings did cut it a one-possession game several times down the stretch, but the Mustangs always answered, and made just enough free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
 
Marcus Asmus led four of Vikings in double figures, and notched his team-leading sixth double-double in the process in finishing with 21 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Steven Schaefer added 14 points, with Matt Cartwright finishing with 11 points and John Warren 10.
 
Michael Lee set the pace for the Mustangs with 19 points. Carter Kirk added 17, KJ Davis 15 and Ryan Bruggeman 14 in the win.
 
Augustana looks to close the regular season on a high note next week, when they hit the road to take on Winona State on Friday and Upper Iowa on Saturday.
 
 
NOTES: Saturday's game marked the 2,195th game in program history … Augustana leads the all-time series with SMSU, 19-14, with a 10-5 advantage at home … the Vikings led at some point in 23 of the 24 games this season … Augustana split the previous eight weekends of NSIC play, winning one game and losing one game each weekend … Asmus' sixth double-double of the season gives him seven for his career, while his 14 rebounds tops his previous career-high of 13, a mark he hit twice, with the last time being at Minnesota Crookston on Feb. 2, 2018 … Spencer's game-high 10 assists gives him at least 10 assists in a game for the fifth time this season, and for the 20th time in his career