WAYNE, Neb. - The Augustana Vikings closed out 2024 with a 65-59 victory over Wayne State on Saturday afternoon at Rice Auditorium. 

With the win, Augustana improves to 5-8 overall and 2-5 in the NSIC while the Wildcats drop to 8-5, 2-5.

Tanner Te Slaa collected his third career double double, scoring 21 points and grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds while adding a team-best three steals. Tameron Ferguson dropped 16 and had six rebounds while Akoi had 12 points and six rebounds of his own. 

The Vikings defense was solid again, holding its second consecutive opponent under 60 points. Part of that was a season-high rebound differential of +16 (44-26) while they also saw advantages in points in the paint (32-28) and second chance points (11-2). 

The Wildcats opened on a 7-2 run before a Sam Rensch 3-pointer with 16:39 left in the first half started a 7-0 AU run, capped by a pair of Akoi layups, for the first Viking lead of the day with 14:58 left in the first half. 

A 10-0 WSC run followed to put the Wildcats ahead eight. A pair of Akoi free throws and another Rensch 3-pointer made it a 17-14 deficit and after five WSC points, Akoi, Rensch and Ferguson each helped claw the Vikings back within 22-21 with 5:44 to go before the break. 

Ferguson's bucket started a stretch of four straight possessions with a 2-pointer to keep the Wildcats up three at the final first half media timeout. A Ferguson layup, Bennett Fried jumper, Brady Helgren layup and Te Slaa 3-pointer closed the first half as that flurry put the Vikings ahead 32-26 into the locker room. 

The offense continued to click in the early stages of the second half. Akoi opened the scoring with a layup and after a WSC 3-pointer, Ferguson and Akoi added a basket each. A 5-0 mini-run for the Wildcats was followed by a 6-0 Te Slaa run and the Vikings took a 44-34 lead with 15:20 to play in the game. 

WSC chipped back into it, closing the gap to 46-42 at the midway point of the second half. From there, Te Slaa hit a 3-pointer and grabbed his 10th rebound and Ferguson sandwiched a pair of Wildcat free throws with four points to grow the lead back to 53-44 with less than eight minutes to play. 

There would be one more run from the Wildcats as they pulled within 56-52 with 3:49 to go in the game. Seven Te Slaa points led an 8-2 run to get the Vikings ahead 64-54 with just under a minute remaining. The Wildcats would go on to score five of the last six points to bring the game to its final score. 

The Vikings will return in 2025, hitting the road for a Jan. 3 meeting with St. Cloud State at 7:30 p.m.