MANKATO, Minn. – Four players with 15 or more points led the No. 9 Augustana men's basketball team to an 85-74 win over Minnesota State in Mankato, Minnesota, Saturday evening.
Isaac Fink led the way with 22 points while
Jameson Bryan set a career-high with 19 points as
Tyler Riemersma added 19 points.
Adam Dykman was the fourth player in double figures at 15 points.
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Augustana moves to 21-2 on the season and 15-2 within the NSIC. Minnesota State falls to 15-8 on the year and 8-8 in the NSIC.
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Augustana jumped out to 11-4 and 16-9 leads in the opening minutes but saw Minnesota State tie things up at 23-all. The momentum swung towards the Mavericks at that time as the home team flipped the score to an eight-point lead of its own at 33-25 with 3:59 remaining in the first half.
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However, the Vikings clamped down defensively and worked their offense to enter intermission trailing by just two points at 35-33.
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It was the second half where Augustana took control and much of that had to do with Fink, who scored 21 of his 22 points in the half.
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Augustana took a one-point lead on a
Dylan LeBrun layup with 17:44 remaining in the game and that lead quickly pushed to four points on a Fink trey for a 46-42 lead.
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The two squads briefly played hot potato with the lead but with the score knotted at 56, Dykman buried a 3-point basket with 11:24 remaining to capture the lead.
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Although that advantage would not stretch out until the closing minutes, the Vikings never gave up the lead, staving off any MSU challenge. The Vikings' lead grew to 11 points on another Dykman long-range basket at 79-68 with 2:19 on the clock and the final score settled at 85-74.
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The win gave Augustana the season sweep over Minnesota State and pushes its winning streak to 11 games.
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Riemersma recorded his fourth-straight double-double and 40
th of his career as he secured 14 rebounds to go with his 19 points. Bryan dished five assists giving him 13 for the weekend.
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Augustana plays at Sioux Falls on Thursday with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. A win would give the Vikings the overall NSIC Regular Season Championship after Minnesota Duluth's loss at Minot State on Saturday.Â
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--GoAugie.com--