SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball is set to make its home debut Tuesday by hosting Sioux Falls in the NSIC opener. On Saturday, the Vikings remain on their home floor by hosting Grand View in nonconference action. Both games will be played in the Elmen Center on the Augustana campus.
 
Complete action can be followed on GoAugie.com/Live and the GoAugie app, presented by The Original Pancake House. The app can be downloaded in the App Store or Google Play. 
 
About the Games
Both games will be part of doubleheaders in the Elmen Center with the women's program. On Tuesday, the men tipoff first at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the two squads will flip with the men competing second at 2 p.m.
 
About the Cougars
Getting some miles under its belts, Sioux Falls is 1-3 to open 2023-24 with the lone victory coming last time out against Stanislaus State in Rohnert Park, California, 69-57. The other three games are losses by a combined four points. The Cougars were tabbed to finish eighth in the preseason coaches' poll by NSIC coaches.
 
Creighton Morisch and Jack Thompson lead USF with 12.3 and 12.0 points per game, respectively. Morisch averages a double-double as he corrals a team-best 11 rebounds per game including just over three offensive rebounds per outing. Morisch, a junior transfer, has proved to be the Cougars' go-to player as he bruises in the paint by making 64.3 percent of his field goal attempts.
 
About the (Grand View) Vikings
A member of the Heart of America Conference of the NAIA, Grand View will make its second appearance in the Elmen Center in three years. The Vikings are 3-1 with a game Tuesday night at Graceland.
 
Staring just one of the four games, Markell Hood leads GV with 13.5 points per game. An equal balance, he shoots 43.8 percent from 3-point range with seven treys and 45.7 percent from the field with 21 made baskets. Jacob Koontz leads the Vikings with 7.8 rebounds per outing while chipping in 10.3 points.
 
About the (Augustana) Vikings
Augustana is 3-1 on the year after essentially tying for the East/West Challenge Championship this past weekend. The NSIC was the overall winner as both AU and MSU Moorhead went 2-0 in the event. The Vikings topped Black Hills State 76-70 on Friday and followed with an 83-74 win over South Dakota Mines on Saturday. In the second game of the weekend, Akoi Akoi went off for a career-high 25 points.
Akoi becoming more of an offensive threat is a great third compliment to Jadan Graves and Isaac Fink as they average 19.3 and 19.0 points per game, respectively. Graves is off to a torrid start from 3-point range as he is 18-of-34 from deep at 52.9 percent. That ranks second in the NSIC while his 4.5 made 3-point field goals per game places him fifth in the nation. Fink continues to be a dual threat as he ranks second on the team with seven rebounds per outing, just behind Brady Helgren and his 7.5 per game.
 
Helgren has proven to be one of the most efficient shooters in the country as he is 13-of-16 from the field for 81.3 percent.
 
One Last Thing
Denis Schaefer, the head coach for Grand View, has a son on the Augustana cross country and Track & field coaching staffs. Joe is in his first year as a graduate assistant with the Augustana Vikings while growing up with his father coaching the Grand View Vikings.