SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team closes 2023 on Saturday with a nonconference tilt with Briar Cliff. Tipoff for the contest in the Elmen Center is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 
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. 
 
Last Meeting
Briar Cliff and Augustana last met on Nov. 25, 1997. That was the last year of meeting for 12-straight seasons. The Vikings, then in the first year under former head coach Perry Ford, won that contest 81-69.
 
About the Chargers
Briar Cliff, holding a 9-5 record, is playing Saturday's contest as an exhibition under NAIA rules. The Chargers have fallen in three-straight contests, most recently a two-point setback at Bellevue prior to the Christmas break.
 
Members of the GPAC, Briar Cliff is led in scoring by Matthew Stilwill and his 23.3 points per outing. In fact, four members, including Stilwill, have started all 13 games and are 1-4 in the scoring leaders for BC. Jamison Helmers is at 15.1 points, Blake Sindelar tallies 13.5 points and Wil Lugar records 11.0 points per outing.
 
Stilwill, the leading rebounder with 5.8 per game, earned an honorable mention to the GPAC All-Conference teams a season ago. He was named the GPAC Player of the Week after pouring in 46 points after a win over Midland on Nov. 15. He started the season with 10-straight games of 16 or more points including hitting 31 or more points on four occasions. He is also the NAIA leader in free throws with 98 made in 2023.
 
About the Vikings
Augustana, holding a 6-6 record, is looking to close 2023 on a strong note after falling in its last contest pre-Holiday break. That was a 71-62 setback to Southwest Minnesota State in a game that saw the Vikings start a pair of true freshmen while graduate student Isaac Fink recorded the Vikings' first double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Freshman Arhman Lewis has now started back-to-back games and has scored 21 points at Wayne State and 16 points against the Mustangs.
 
For the season, Fink leads all Vikings with 19.3 points per outing while Jadan Graves is at 14.9 points per game. Fink is the team's leader in rebounds at 6.6 per outing while Graves is among the nation's best from 3-point range with 34 makes in 12 games. His 2.83 makes from long range rank him second in the NSIC and 45^th in NCAA Division II.
 
One Last thing
Arhman Lewis has provided a scoring spark for Augustana over his two games of starting. The true freshman averaged 18.5 points over the two games while shooting just under 50 percent from the field. The previous 10 games, Lewis dropped in 5.8 points per game while holding a similar shooting percentage. Overall, Augustana's scoring increased by nearly five points.