WAYNE, America – Despite a balanced scoring attack, the Augustana men's basketball team fell 71-63 at Wayne State on New Year's Eve.
 
Five Vikings scored eight or more points led by Akoi Akoi's team-high 14 while Ryan Miller added 12 and Brady Helgren 10. The balance came with nine points from the hands of Jadan Graves and eight points from Eric Tiedman.
 
After a slow start to the game, Augustana turned a 14-4 deficit into a 32-31 halftime lead, with the entirety of the come-from-behind coming in the final 13 minutes of the opening half.
 
The Vikings (7-7, 3-5 NSIC) took their first lead of the game with 6:16 remaining in the first half on an Akoi layup. Graves dished to Akoi for one of his eight assists. The two squads then played hot potato with the lead for the remainder of the half with AU scoring its 32^nd point on a Sam Rensch 3-point basket.
 
Wayne State then scored five-straight points to open the second half to snag the lead at 36-32 just 50 seconds into the game. Jumpers from Graves and Tiedman knotted the game back at 36 less than a minute later.
 
However, a 7-0 Wayne State (11-3, 6-2 NSIC) run gave the Wildcats the lead back, a lead that would not grow larger than eight points but was just far enough ahead to keep the Vikings from tying or retaking the lead the remainder of the game.
 
The eight-point spread to conclude the game matched the NSIC opener when the two teams matched up in WSC's 69-61 victory. The Wildcats remain in first place in the NSIC South Division. 
 
Augustana remains on the road in the New Year as it travels to Northern State on Friday and MSU Moorhead on Saturday. Friday's contest has a 7:30 p.m. tipoff while Saturday's game is slated to begin at 5:30 p.m.