SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A strong second half, anchored by an 8-0 run to start the half, boosted the Augustana men's basketball team to victory Saturday. The Vikings took down Minnesota Crookston, 84-60, inside the Elmen Center behind a double-double from Isaac Fink.
 
Fink ended the 101^st start of his career with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Jadan Graves tallied 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Arhman Lewis continued his strong freshman campaign with 14 points and five assists.
 
Leading 32-28 at intermission, the Vikings jumped out to its opening-half run with a jumper from Caden Kirkman just seconds into the half.
 
After Lewis sank a 3-point basket, the Vikings' defense made a stop with a rebound by Kirkman, who kicked ahead to Lewis on the break. Fink had leaked free of the defense and was open for a layup on the fast break. Fink was fouled while making the layup for the old-fashioned 3-point play and 12-point lead at 40-28.
 
After a small back-and-forth with the score, Lewis got out on a fastbreak, created by his own steal, and made a layup to boost AU's lead to 13 points.
 
Although the Vikings wouldn't pull away in the middle portion of the half, the lead did not shrink, hovering above 10 points for most of the half.
 
A jumper from Fink with 9:40 remaining gave Augustana a 12-point advantage at 59-47 and that lead quickly ballooned to 18 points after a pair of free throws from Fink, a 3-point basket from Graves and a free throw from Kirkman.
 
That spurt gave Augustana a 65-47 lead with 7:49 remaining in the game. The end of the contest was highlighted by the first career points from Hayden Brown as he scored on a breakaway layup with 2:13 on the clock before the final score settled at 84-60.
 
The Vikings shot 48.5 percent from the field for the game while sinking 13-of-16 from the free throw line. Kirkman just missed on a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Augustana begins a four-game road trip on Friday at UMary and at Northern State on Saturday. After a trip to Bemidji State and St. Cloud State, the Vikings make their return to Sioux Falls on Jan. 25 against Minot State.