SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Leading by three with just under 30 seconds to play, Augustana's Isaac Fink hit a turn-around jump shot to give the Viking men's basketball team a 69-64 lead and all the momentum it needed to topple Sioux Falls 72-67 Thursday evening.
 
The contest was the first of the year for Augustana inside the Sanford Pentagon as AU improves to 7-1 on the season and 1-1 in NSIC play. USF falls to 4-4, 1-1.
 
Augustana never trailed from the 9:35 point on in the second half and only held a deficit as large as two points in the contest. The Vikings led for over 35 minutes and were led by Dylan LeBrun with his game-high 21 points.
 
In addition, the Vikings were red-hot in the second half, shooting 57.1 percent from the field while shooting 50.9 percent for the game on 27-of-53 made field goals.
 
Augustana scored the first basket of the game and controlled much of the first half, building an eight-point lead on a Jameson Bryan jumper with 12:45 remaining in the half at 10-2. The two squads began to trade bucket-for-bucket but saw AU snag its largest lead of the game of 10 points when LeBrun sank a jumper with 6:10 on the clock for a 20-10 lead.
 
Although AU never trailed, Sioux Falls was able to close the gap to just a single point late in the half when Jack Thompson sank a 3-point basket with one second left. That gave Augustana a 26-25 lead at intermission.
 
The visiting Cougars secured their first lead of the game in the opening seconds of the second half but Tyler Riemersma immediately knotted the game at 28-all as Bryan found him in the post.
 
Augustana last trailed at 37-35, but Adam Dykman secured an old-fashioned 3-point play to give Augustana the advantage at 38-37 with 15:36 remaining in the game.
 
Although Augustana wouldn't relinquish the lead, the Cougars stayed within a stalking distance. That set up the Fink jumper following a pair of free throws from USF. The Vikings took their time, set up an offensive play that had Fink on isolation. He spun on his defender hitting the jumper to carry the momentum for AU to secure the third-straight victory over USF.
 
After LeBrun's 21 points, Riemersma tallied 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Dykman and Fink each recorded 12 points while Dykman secured a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Augustana travels to Marshall, Minnesota, on Saturday to face Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 

--GoAugie.com--