SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team continues its start on the road this season with a pair of games at the East/West Challenge taking place in Aberdeen, South Dakota. The Vikings face Black Hills State on Friday at 5 p.m. and South Dakota Mines on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
For the first time in 2021-22, the voice of the Vikings, Jeff Fylling, will call Friday's game on KXRB 100.1 FM. Both contests can be found at GoAugie.com/Live and on the GoAugie App, presented by CellOnly.  
 
The Yellow Jackets
Black Hills State enters this game 2-0 after wins against the University of Arkansas Fort Smith and Oklahoma Christian University. They scored 77 and 76 points with the game against OCU ending in Overtime. The Yellow Jackets were picked to finish 3rd in the RMAC Preseason Poll.
 
Junior Joel Scott has led the scoring for the Yellow Jackets so far this season, he's averaged 22 points in the two games, with a season-high 29 in the overtime win. Scott is also the team's leading rebounder with 28 total rebounds in the two games, he has two double-doubles to start the year.
 
The Mulerider defense has given up only 67.5 points per game, with a scoring margin of 9.0. They've forced 17 turnovers on the year with 9 steals and 3 blocks.
 
The Hardrockers
South Dakota Mines enters the weekend 1-1 after an opening season win against Texas A&M Kingsville was followed by a 52-48 loss to Texas A&M International University.
 
Brevin Walter and Kolten Mortensen have been the Hardrockers go-to scorers so far. They average 19.5 and 19 points per game, respectively. Mortensen earned a double-double in the loss to Tex. A&M Int'l and averages 10 rebounds a game.
 
The Hardrockers defense has given up only 62 points per game with a scoring margin of 4. They've forced opponents to shoot 37.1 percent from the field and have forced 15 turnovers on the year. They have 6 steals and 1 block so far on the season.
 
The Vikings
Augustana is 2-0 for the second-straight season after opening with a 74-66 win over Southern Arkansas last Friday and a 72-58 win over No. 11 Washburn on Saturday at the Central Region Challenge.
 
Tyler Riemersma earned NSIC South Division Player of the Week honors following the weekend after averaging a double-double of 20 points and 14 rebounds over the two contests. Isaac Fink came out of the weekend as the team's leading scorer at 20.5 points while shooting 58 percent from the field.
 
Earlier this week, Augustana jumped into one of the recognized Top-25 polls, earning a No. 20 ranking from D2SIDA. The NABC Top-25 poll is not weekly at the start of the season. In that poll, AU was in the preseason receiving votes category.
 
One Last Thing
The Vikings wrap up five-straight games on the road to start the season with the NSIC Opener at Wayne State on Tuesday. Following the Thanksgiving holiday, Augustana makes its home debut on Friday, Nov. 26 against Doane and Saturday, Nov. 27 against Grand View. Those two games will be played inside the Elmen Center on the Augustana campus.