SAINT CLOUD, Minn. – It wasn't easy but the Augustana men's basketball team claimed its fifth-straight win Saturday at St. Cloud State. The Vikings prevailed 77-66 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, to improve to 12-7 on the year and 7-6 in the NSIC. St. Cloud State falls to 8-10, 4-8.
 
Augustana trailed for just 49 seconds in the contest, a 5-4 score, and held a lead as large as 15 points late in the first half.
 
Holding a 21-16 lead, AU went on a 10-0 run to build the 15-point advantage at 31-16. The run started with a Jadan Graves jumper and followed with an Arhman Lewis 3-point basket. Graves then hit another pull-up jumper while the run ended with an Isaac Fink old-fashioned 3-point play. Fink made a steal on the ball and went the distance while getting fouled with 5:45 on the clock.
 
St. Cloud State cut its deficit to nine points at the intermission at a 39-30 score.
 
Although the Vikings never relinquished their lead, AU was unable to run away with the game. The second-half lead never grew larger than 14 points and that was with 16:16 remaining on an Akoi Akoi layup. For most of the half, the Vikings' lead bounced between nine points and 11 points as the two squads traded blow-for-blow.
 
Over the final 2:45 of game action, Augustana went 11-of-12 from the free throw line to put the game away for the final score of 77-66. Augustana entered the game ranked 12^th in the nation in free throw percentage and made 25-of-32 attempts to raise its season average to 78.9 percent for the year.
 
Lewis led AU with a game-high 17 points while Graves added 16 as part of five Vikings in double figures. Fink chipped in 12 points followed by Akoi with 11 and Caden Kirman with 10. Caden Hinker secured 10 rebounds in the contest to lead both teams in the category.
 
The Vikings host No. 21 Minot State on Thursday at the Sanford Pentagon. Tip-off for the men's game is slated for 7:30 p.m. as the women play the first game of the doubleheader for the remainder of the season.