ST. PAUL, Minn. – A second-half surge helped the Augustana men's basketball team hold off a pesky Concordia-St. Paul squad 88-72 Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Vikings never held more than a nine-point advantage until 13:53 remaining when AU took off for the win.
 
The Vikings improve to 20-2 on the season and 14-2 in the NSIC. The win is head coach Tom Billeter's 450^th career with 353 coming at Augustana and 97 at North Dakota State. Concordia-St. Paul falls to 3-22 on the year, 2-16 in the loop.
 
Augustana held a 44-39 halftime lead after shooting 50 percent from the field, but the peskiness came from deep from the Golden Bears as CSP made eight 3-point baskets in the opening half at a 66.7 percent clip.
 
However, that threat from deep cooled off considerably in the second half as Augustana held Concordia-St. Paul to 37.9 percent shooting from the field and allowed just three more treys in the final 20 minutes.
 
Leading by three at 51-48, Augustana used an 8-0 run to build an 11-point lead, the largest of the game to that point, on a 3-point basket from Jameson Bryan. The lead inched ahead to 14 points on an Isaac Fink 3-point basket to give the ninth-ranked Vikings a 14-point edge at 74-60 with 7:22 on the clock.
 
The Vikings lead then never sunk below double digits the remainder of the contest and settled at the 16-point victory at 88-72.
 
Augustana's entire starting five scored in double figures led by Tyler Riemersma and his 23 points while Fink added 20. Dylan LeBrun tossed in 16 points while Adam Dykman added 13 and Bryan totaled 12. Both Dykman and Riemersma recorded double-doubles as Dykman secured 13 rebounds and Riemersma 12.
 
The duo combined for 10 offensive rebounds as Augustana recorded 16 offensive rebounds compared to just 22 total rebounds secured by Concordia-St. Paul for the game.
 
Bryan also had another stellar game running the point as he recorded eight assists against just two turnovers.
 
Augustana ended the game shooting 50 percent from the field on 34-of-68 shot attempts while the Golden Bears cooled off to a 47.3 percent clip on 26-of-55 made field goal attempts.
 
Augustana, in complete control of its own destiny to win the NSIC, travels to Minnesota State on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. The Vikings had been a half-game behind Minnesota Duluth in the overall NSIC standings, but after the Bulldogs fell to UMary, Augustana now holds that half-game lead heading into the final three games of the season.
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