SPEARFISH, S.D. -
Akoi Akoi and
Tanner Te Slaa scored 21 points apiece to help lead the Augustana men's basketball team to a 74-61 win over South Dakota School of Mines on Friday night at the Donald E. Young Sports & Fitness Center.
The Vikings moved to 2-1 overall while the Hardrockers fell to 0-3.
Akoi went 10 of 15 from the field while adding eight rebounds and a pair of assists. Te Slaa knocked down three 3-pointers and grabbed eight rebounds while going 7 of 11 from the field.
Sam Rensch also scored in double figures going for 14 points and five boards.
Tameron Ferguson grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points while helping facilitate the offense. The Vikings shot 51.9 percent from the field while limiting SDM to 36.8 percent.
After falling behind 5-2 early, Akoi knocked down a pair of jumpers to give the Vikings their first lead of the night at 6-5 with 17:40 left in the first half. SDM came back to take a 17-12 lead but a Te Slaa 3-pointer and layups from Rensch and Akoi reclaimed a 19-17 lead with 11:36 left in the half.
After the Hardrockers tied the score, Rensch,
Conner Kraft and Akoi led a 7-3 run to give the Vikings a 26-22 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. The game was even throughout the rest of the half as SDM tied the score and Rensch knocked down a jumper to close the scoring and give AU a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
Mines opened the second half with a 6-2 run to take a 41-39 lead early in the second half. That would be the last Hardrocker lead of the night as the Vikings leaked ahead 50-49 before a 9-0 run, led by five points from
Tameron Ferguson, handed AU its largest lead of the night up to that point with 8:28 to go.
An SDM free throw was countered with a pair of Te Slaa layups to grow AU's lead to 13. With 4:23 to go, the Hardrockers closed the gap to 67-59 but a Te Slaa 3-pointer and jumper from Akoi pushed them back ahead by 13 at 72-59. Each team scored a pair of points the rest of the way to bring the game to its final score.
Up Next
The Vikings close the East/West Challenge with a 6 p.m. (CT) matchup with Black Hills State on Saturday night.
