SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team is moving on in the NSIC Men's Basketball Tournament after a 75-62 win Wednesday night over Wayne State. The Vikings, playing in the Elmen Center, followed a 20-point, eight-rebound performance to victory as part of four Vikings in double-figure scoring.
Augustana will now play Minnesota Duluth in the Sanford Pentagon in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
In a physical first half, the Vikings took a 22-all score and rallied a 10-0 run to take the 10-point advantage late in the half.
Arhman Lewis started the run with a jumper while
Jadan Graves sank a 3-point basket for the 27-22 score. A layup from
Brady Helgren mixed with a jump and free throw from Fink made the 10-point lead with 2:58 on the clock.
Augustana carried a 38-28 lead into intermission.
Holding a lead of 10 points nearing the midway point of the second half, Augustana jumped on a 9-2 run to open a 17-point lead at 57-40. It was
Caden Hinker finding an open Lewis for a 3-point shot to make the lead 17 points.
From there, Wayne State went on a 16-4 run of its own to pull within five points with 4:37 on the clock.
With the Vikings looking from something offensively, Fink tried to make a pivot and the WSC defender was called for a cylinder foul sending the reigning national player of the week to the charity stripe where he went 2-for-2. That increased AU's lead to seven at 63-56 and stopped the Wildcats momentum.
Augustana regained its composure and held the Wildcats to just six points the remainder of the game in the 75-62 victory.
Joining the double-figure scoring party were
Jadan Graves (14),
Arhman Lewis (12) and
Akoi Akoi (10).
Augustana shot 48.1 percent from the field on 25-of-52 field goal attempts and sank 10 3-pointers at a 47.6 percent clip.
Tickets to Saturday's contest against No. 11 nationally-ranked Minnesota Duluth can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com. The contest is the second of the session with Minnesota State facing Sioux Falls in the day's first game.
--GoAugie.com--
