SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team heads to Minnesota for a pair of NSIC road games, first up north at Minnesota Duluth before traveling to the Twin Cities to take on Concordia-St. Paul. The Vikings will take on the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m., on Friday before taking on the Golden Bears at 5:30 p.m., on Saturday.

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 Bulldogs
Minnesota Duluth was picked to finish third in the NSIC and has opened the season 5-3 overall and 0-3 in the NSIC after losing to Sioux Falls. The Bulldogs have ranked as high as fourth in the country but have dropped three games in a row. Reigning NSIC Defensive Player of the Year Charlie Katona leads the team with 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. 

About the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC and have started the season 7-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play after knocking off SMSU on Saturday. The Golden Bears have earned a pair of ranked victories this season and are 1-1 at home. Antwan Kimmons is one of the leading scorers in the country, averaging 24.8 points per game while adding 7.0 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game. Marcus Skeete does it all for CSP, averaging 16.1 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game.

About the Vikings
Augustana is 3-6 after falling in a pair of home games last weekend.

Akoi Akoi leads the Vikings with 13.3 points per game while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. He has scored at least 20 points in four of the last seven games. Sam Rensch adds 13.1 points per game and adds 2.0 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that forces the fifth most turnovers in the NSIC.

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 7.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. In the three games since entering the starting lineup, Fried has led the team with 13.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while scoring at a 63 percent clip.

Tanner Te Slaa is third on the team with 11.8 points per game while leading the team with 6.7 rebounds per game. He has corralled a pair of double doubles and also leads the team with a 33.3 3-point percentage.

In his collegiate debut on Nov. 8, Tameron Ferguson scored 13 points while grabbing seven rebounds and dishing six assists to help lead the Vikings to victory. He is fifth on the team with 5.7 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 20/10 assist/turnover ratio.

Series History
Augustana and Minnesota Duluth will match up for the 36th time all-time with the Vikings leading 18-17. AU has dropped three straight in the series, including a loss in the NSIC quarterfinals in March.

Augustana enters on a three-game win streak against Concordia-St. Paul and have won 25 of the last 26 meetings. The teams met twice a season ago as the Vikings took both matchups 92-87.