FAYETTE, Iowa – Trailing for most of the game, the Augustana men got within two points late, but Upper Iowa fired back with a 9-0 run to salt away an 87-77 win on Saturday night in the final regular season game for both teams.
 
The Vikings end the regular season with a 15-13 overall record and a 10-12 mark in Northern Sun play, which secures the No. 5 seed in the NSIC Tournament, and a date with Bemidji State on Wednesday at the Elmen Center. The Peacocks end up 17-14 overall, with the same 10-12 record in NSIC play.
 
The hosts set the stage with a game-opening 10-2 run, and continued to lead until the 9:13 mark of the first half, when the Vikings used a 7-0 spurt to take a short-lived 25-24 lead, as the Peacocks got it right back, and led 42-33 at halftime.
 
Augustana kept chipping away at the lead in the second half, getting it down to as few as one point twice, but never could get over the hump, and after cutting it tow 70-68 with under five minutes to play, the Peacocks scored nine straight to get the lead to double digits for the first time, and kept it at least a two possession game for the rest of the game.
 
Jordan Spencer added to his legacy at Augustana in scoring a team-high 20 points, which puts him into 10th all-time at Augustana with 1,654 points, and his two assists adds to his school-record total to 901. Steven Schaefer and Marcus Asmus both scored 17 points, with Asmus adding a game-high 13 rebounds for his team-leading seventh double-double of the season.
 
Carson Parker led all players in the game with 28 points, with Joe Smoldt adding 16, Dennis Austin 14 and Jareese Williams 14 points in the win.
 
With the Augustana women also hosting the first round of the NSIC Tournament, the Vikings men take on Bemidji State on Wednesday at 8 p.m., in the Elmen Center.
 
NOTES: Saturday's game marked the 2,197th game in program history … Augustana leads the all-time series with Upper Iowa, 17-7, with a 6-5 advantage in Fayette … the Vikings led at some point in 27 of the 28 regular season games ... Asmus' seventh double-double of the season gives him eight for his career