KANSAS CITY, Mo. –
Isaac Fink vaulted the No. 18 Augustana men's basketball team to a 1-0 record when he made a put-back basket with less than a second remaining. The Vikings prevailed 68-67 over Arkansas-Monticello in the opening game of the Central Region Challenge Friday afternoon.
As time was ticking down,
Zac Johnson drove the lane but had his game-tying layup blocked, but went into the hands of
Caden Hinker. The true-freshman was then fouled sending him to the free throw line trailing 67-65 with less than a second on the clock.
Hinker then sank the first free throw but saw his second free throw draw back iron. However, the rebound went into the hands of Fink on the block, who caught the ball and put it back up all in one leap. The ball bounced around the rim and drew net as the Vikings prevailed with no time to spare.
Fink ended the game with a game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. In his Viking debut,
Ryan Miller poured in 17 points. Another strong debut came from
Jadan Graves as he dished six assists while scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds.
Augustana shot 36.5 percent from the field on 23-of-63 shot attempts while hitting 37 percent of its 3-point attempts.
The Vikings mounted several comebacks including turning a 34-29 deficit with 2:16 remaining in the first half into a 39-36 halftime lead. That lead then fluctuated between four ties and four lead changes in the second half, including a tie and two lead changes in the final 1:32.
Along with the debuts of Miller and Graves, Augustan saw program debuts from
Brady Helgren, a starter, Hinker,
Sam Rensch and
Jackson Loge.
Augustana remains in Kansas City for the Central Region Challenge, facing Washburn at 7 p.m. Saturday. There will still not be a video stream, however, live stats and an online audio feed from Washburn will be available at GoAugie.com/Live.
--GoAugie.com--
