MOORHEAD, Minn. – The No. 16 Augustana men's basketball team opened its 2021 season with a weekend sweep after topping MSU Moorhead 89-79 Sunday afternoon thanks to a red-hot shooting performance of 55.4 percent from the field.
Michael Schaefer again led the way for the Vikings with 23 points off the bench while
Isaac Fink tallied a season-high of 20 points.
Tyler Riemersma secured his first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Augustana never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 17 points early in the second half.
The Vikings methodically built a lead in the first half that stretched to 13 points on a Schaefer jumper in the paint with 5:50 remaining in the first half. The lead would remain double digits entering halftime with the score at 42-30.
Augustana was firing on all cylinders at the beginning of the second half, seeing that lead grow to 17 points thanks to a 9-4 run to begin the half and a score of 51-34. Fink tallied four of the points while Riemersma totaled three of the points in the run. The run concluded with a Schaefer jumper with 16:19 on the clock.
However, the Dragons found their fire and were able to cut the deficit to seven points on a 16-6 run. Bryce Irsfeld sank a pair of free throws with 12:16 on the clock, bringing the score to 57-50 in favor of the Vikings.
The two squads battled to a near-even score with the Vikings holding a 72-68 lead with 5:44 on the clock. From there, the Vikings stretched the lead back out to double digits, where it would remain nearly the rest of the contest.
Riemersma hit a jumper to put an end to the Dragon run and push the momentum back into Augustana's favor. That momentum carried to the final score of 89-79, giving the 16th-ranked Vikings a 2-0 start. The Dragons fall to 0-2.
For the game, the Vikings shot 55.4 percent from the field including a scorching 63 percent in the second half on 17-of-27 shooting.
Matt Todd joined Schaefer, Fink and Riemersma in double-figure scoring with 14 points after shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
The Dragons were 46 percent shooting from the field on 29-of-63 shot attempts. Much like the Vikings, the Dragons were led in scoring by the same person as Saturday with Lorenzo McGhee tallying 20 points.
The Vikings remain on the road next weekend, traveling to Mankato, Minnesota, to face Minnesota State. Friday's contest is slated for 6 p.m. while Saturday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
--GoAugie.com--
