SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana basketball team won its fifth game in a row, taking down the UMary Marauders 70-63 on Friday night inside the Elmen Center. 

The Vikings evened their record at 8-8 overall and 5-5 in the NSIC while the Marauders fall to 4-14, 2-7.

Akoi Akoi led the Vikings with 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting while dishing three assists. Bennett Fried added 14 points and 7 rebounds on 6 of 8 shooting while collecting four steals and two blocks. Also racking up four steals was Tameron Ferguson, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds to go with them. Sam Rensch had 11 points while Tanner Te Slaa added nine. 

The Vikings had an 18-1 advantage in fast break points, 10-5 lead in steals and dominated off turnovers (25-10) and in the paint (38-14).

Four of the five Viking starters scored in the opening stretch to give AU a 10-3 lead into the first media break. Fried, Rensch, Akoi and Ferguson each got a turn finding the bottom of the net. The Marauders scored the next five points to get within two but a Rensch and-one and Akoi layup gave AU a 15-8 lead with 11:53 to play in the first half. 

In the next 1:17 of gametime, UMary erased its deficit with a pair of 3-pointers and  a free throw to even the score at 15-15. A pair of Akoi free throws temporarily gave the Vikings the lead but a 5-0 Marauder mini-run put UMary in front 20-17 with 8:05 left in the half. 

Te Slaa found the scoresheet for the first time and a 3-pointer evened the score. The Marauders hit a three of their own and another Rensch and-one brought the game back to a tie at 23-23. A UMary run followed as they crept ahead 34-27 with 2:46 remaining but four Fried points helped a 6-2 Viking run get them to within 36-33 at the half. 

The Viking voyage found smooth waters in the first 5:25 of the second half. After a UMary free throw opened the scoring, everything started to fall for AU. The Vikings made five of their next six shots as Fried (4), Ferguson (3), Te Slaa (2) and Akoi (2) took turns to regain the lead at 44-37 with 15:05 to go. 

UMary took the next three minutes to claw back within 49-46. A Jack Hastreiter 3-pointer, Kelton Coleman jumper and Akoi  jumper fueled a 7-1 run to build the lead right back at 56-47 with 8:03 to play. 

The Vikings wouldn't lead by less than six points for nearly seven minutes before a UMary 3-pointer made it 65-60 AU with 1:10 to go. Coleman went on to score four of the final five AU points and UMary hit a 3-pointer to bring the game to its final score. 

The Vikings conclude their weekend on Saturday afternoon, hosting Northern State at 5:30 p.m., inside the Elmen Center.