SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team suffered a late setback in an 82-73 loss to No. 10 Black Hills State Saturday to close out the East/West Challenge.
The Vikings received a career-high 18 points from
Akoi Akoi while
Jadan Graves and
Ryan Miller reached double-figure scoring with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Augustana held a two-point lead at halftime and pushed that lead to seven points in the opening minutes of the second half.
Bennett Otto made a layup to start the Vikings' scoring, and after Joel Scott went 1-of-2 at the free throw line for BHSU,
Ryan Miller sank a jumper in the paint to push a five-point advantage at 36-31.
Akoi ended the quick Vikings' run with a jumper. The Yellow Jackets (4-0) then embarked on a 7-0 run to knot the game at 38-all and eventually pushed a 51-44 lead with 13:12 remaining in the contest.
The game proved to be a back-and-forth affair as
Caden Hinker tied the game at 53 on a jumper in the paint. The contest proved to be a back-and-forth affair as the two squads traded shot-for-shot until a mini 7-0 run pushed the Yellow Jackets' lead to eight points at 70-62.
Augustana (2-2) was unable to chip that lead back down in the 82-73 setback.
Augustana shot 49.2 percent from the field but made just three 3-point field goals. Black Hills State shot exactly 50 percent from the field and was led by Scott's 25 points.
The Vikings remain at the Sanford Pentagon on Tuesday as they open NSIC action. With an alternating schedule within the NSIC back for 2022-23, the men's game will tip-off against Wayne State at 5:30 p.m. with the women to follow.
--GoAugie.com--
