SIOUX FALLS – The 2017-18 season came to a close for the Augustana men in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament, as the Vikings and Southwest Minnesota State played through 12 lead changes and a trio of ties before the Mustangs emerged down the stretch for a 79-64 win at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
The loss ends the NSIC South No. 5 seeded Vikings season with a 16-14 overall record, while the top seed in the south improves to 23-7 and advances to the tournament semifinals on Monday.
 
SMSU scored on its first four possessions, including a pair of 3-pointers, to open up a 10-2 lead, but the Mustangs missed their next eight shots, and while the Vikings didn't fare much better, they did capitalize on the drought with a 9-0 run, capped by a Marcus Asmus 3-pointer that put the Vikings up 11-10 with 11 minutes, 44 seconds left in the opening half.
 
The Mustangs quickly regained the lead, scoring the next seven points to go up 17-11, but the Vikings bounced back with an 11-3 run to retake the lead at 22-20, drawing a timeout from the SMSU bench with 7:05 left in the first half.
 
Again, SMSU responded with five straight points for the fourth lead change of the half, and four more followed before a Mustangs layup with eight seconds left in the half gave them a 35-34 lead over the Vikings at halftime.
 
Things picked up in the second half where they left off in the first, with the lead changing, as the first five minutes of the half saw four more lead changes, the last coming on as part of an 8-0 Mustangs run that ended with them leading 48-43 with just over 14 minutes left in the game.
 
Augustana cut that lead down to as few as three points at 54-51 a few minutes later, but the Mustangs fired right back with a 10-0 run, and led by double figures the rest of the way.
 
Adam Dykman led four Vikings in double figures with 17 points, and added eight rebounds. John Warren pitched in with 14 points, while both Jordan Spencer and Asmus finished with 11 points. Asmus also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for his team-leading eighth double-double of the season.
 
KJ Davis scored a game-high 26 points to lead four Mustangs in double figures, with Turner Moen adding 18, Ryan Bruggeman 11 and Carter Kirk 10 points in the win.
 
The Mustangs advance to play the winner of NSIC North No. 2 seed St. Cloud State or NSIC South No. 3 seed Sioux Falls in the tournament semifinals on Monday at 2:30 p.m.
 
NOTES: Saturday's game marked the 2,199th game in program history … Augustana leads the all-time series with SMSU, 20-15, with an 0-2 mark in the NSIC Tournament and a 1-2 record in neutral site games … the Vikings held a lead at some point in 29 of the 30 games this season … the Vikings scored a season-low three bench points … Spencer broke Augustana's career starts record of 129 a mark held by Daniel Jansen from 2012-16, Spencer finished his career with 130 … Asmus' eight double-double of the season gives him nine for his career