CROOKSTON, Minn. – Fifty-three first-half points set the tone for the No. 21 Augustana men's basketball team in a 101-68 win at Minnesota Crookston Friday night. It marked the first time since 2017 that the Vikings hit the century mark in an NSIC game.
 
Tyler Riemersma nearly had his fourth-straight double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds. He was joined in double-digit scoring by Matt Todd and Adam Dykman with 18 points each along with 11 points from Dylan LeBrun.
 
The Vikings, who played as a nationally-ranked team for the first time this year, improve to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the NSIC. Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in the loop.
 
The Golden Eagles briefly held a 2-0 lead but saw the Vikings tie things up seven seconds later and take the lead for good with 18:03 remaining in the game.
 
Leading 30-16 with just over seven minutes to go in the first half, Augustana embarked on a 16-2 run to push a 44-18 lead with just under five minutes on the clock. The Vikings entered the intermission leading 53-30.
 
Augustana then opened the second half on a 25-5 run to push its lead to 78-35 with 14 minutes remaining in the game. The largest lead of the game was 46 points when the score was 87-41 with 10:45 on the clock.
 
The Vikings shot 70 percent from the field in the second half en route to the 101-68 victory.
 
"Something that won't show up in the box score is Jameson Bryan's defense on Harrison Cleary," head coach Tom Billeter said. "That set the tone. Harrison is a great player. He'll make an All-America team and Jameson just came out and guarded him. He took the challenge.
 
"I loved Jameson's attitude going into the game. He wanted that assignment."
 
The Vikings held Cleary, the nation's second-leading scorer, to 18 points but it took 22 shots to get there. Minnesota Crookston was held to 32.3 percent shooting from the field.
 
Augustana owned a +17 rebound margin at 47-30 and was led by Riemersma's game-high nine rebounds while Michael Schaefer tallied seven. Bryan recorded a career-high seven assists while Todd also had seven assists, a season-high. The Vikings shot 60.3 percent (41-of-68) from the field for the game and connected on 12-of-22 shots from 3-point range for 54.5 percent.
 
The No. 21 Vikings stay on the road for a Saturday tilt at Bemidji State. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.