SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – In what could be called a tale of two halves, the Augustana men's basketball team outscored Southwest Minnesota State 43-25 in the second half to win 73-55 in the quarterfinal round of the NSIC Tournament Saturday. The Vikings advance to play the winner of MSU Moorhead and St. Cloud State on Monday at 1:30 p.m. inside the Sanford Pentagon.
Augustana, the overall No. 1 seed of the tournament and top seed from the South Division, improves to 24-2 on the season. Southwest Minnesota State, the South Division No. 5 seed, ends its season at 15-12.
After an opening half that saw the score knotted at 30, the Vikings shot 54.8 percent in the second half to pull away for the win.
A 10-3 run to open the second half began to give AU the momentum it had looked for the entire first half. That started with
Dylan LeBrun scoring on a step-back jumper. After a defensive stop and quick outlet pass from
Tyler Riemersma, LeBrun sent an alley-oop soaring towards
Adam Dykman for a highlight reel dunk for a quick 34-30 lead.
The lead quickly ballooned to 10 points at 43-33 as Dykman sank a 3-point basket from straight-away with 15:13 on the clock, forcing an SMSU timeout.
Following the Mustang timeout, the visitors on the scoreboard were able to cut the deficit to just four points at 43-39 with 12:27 on the clock.
A quick five-point spurt from AU took a 49-43 advantage and pushed a 54-43 lead thanks to a trey from
Jameson Bryan and a fast-break layup from LeBrun. The Vikings then did not allow the lead to dip below double digits the remainder of the game.
The lead went as high as 20 points, coming on a Bryan pull-up jumper with 1:46 remaining in the game for a 73-53 lead.
The final score settled at 73-55 as the Vikings advance to the semifinals of the Sanford Health/NSIC Tournament on Monday at 1:30 p.m.
Riemersma, the NSIC South Division Player of the Year, led the way with 18 points and 16 rebounds while Bryan tallied 17 points. LeBrun was the third Viking in double-figure scoring at 15 points while also adding seven assists.
Southwest Minnesota State entered today's game having made 16 3-point baskets in Wednesday's win at Minot State. The Viking defense allowed just two made long-distance shots as SMSU went 2-for-29 from deep. Kenny Byers led the way for the Mustangs with 19 points.
--GoAugie.com--
