CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Augustana men's basketball team won its 17^th game of 2021-22 and 11^th in NSIC play with a 78-59 win over Minnesota Crookston. The win caps a perfect month of January for the 14^th-ranked Vikings with a 7-0 mark.
 
It was all Augustana in the first half as it built a lead as large as 30 points. The Vikings took a 14-0 lead before the Golden Eagles (7-14, 4-11 NSIC) scored their first basket. Midway through the first half, a 3-point field goal from Isaac Fink gave AU a 20-point lead at 25-5.
 
Adam Dykman tallied a 3-point field goal to give Augustana a 32-14 lead to jumpstart a 15-0 run to push that 30-point lead at 44-14 with 1:56 remaining in the opening half. Augustana entered halftime leading 47-19.
 
The first half was fueled by Tyler Riemersma and his 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting, along with 14 points from Dykman. As a team, AU shot 55.9 percent from the field in the half.
 
The Golden Eagles' defense clamped down in the second half and outscored AU 40-31.
 
Augustana withstood several UMC runs and closed the game on a 10-2 run of its own to prevail 78-59. Amongst the run were three-straight breakaway baskets. The first came as Jameson Bryan broke the press and banked a layup in. On the ensuing Golden Eagle possession, Dylan LeBrun stole the ball and went the length of the court for an easy dunk.
 
On the very next UMC possession, Bryan got the steal and passed ahead to Bennett Otto for another easy lay-in which proved to be the final score. The pass ahead to Otto was Bryan's eighth assist of the game.
 
Riemersma tied his career-high with 29 points and finished just shy of a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. Dykman reached 21 points and eight rebounds. Bryan totaled nine points, eight assists and two steals.
 
Bryan ends January averaging 6.1 assists per game for the month. He totaled 43 assists against just eight turnovers.
 
Augustana returns to Sioux Falls for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Winona State on Friday inside the Sanford Pentagon. On Saturday, the Vikings host Upper Iowa inside the Elmen Center with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
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