SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Akoi Akoi scored a career-high 26 points to help the Augustana men's basketball team to an 86-73 victory over the Northern State Wolves on Saturday afternoon inside the Elmen Center. 

The Vikings win their sixth straight game and move to 9-8 overall while jumping to 6-5 in the NSIC. NSU falls to 1-15, 0-10 with the loss. 

Akoi shot 10 of 18 from the field and 4 of 6 from deep to help an offense that shot 23 of 65 (49.2 percent) from the field and 12 of 26 (46.2 percent) from deep. Tanner Te Slaa scored 18 points with seven rebounds and two steals and Tameron Ferguson scored 12 points, his fifth consecutive game in double figures. 

Sam Rensch led the offense with six assists while adding six rebounds and nine points. Bennett Fried grabbed eight rebounds and scored eight points while Kelton Coleman scored eight points in seven minutes off the bench. The Vikings had a 20-0 advantage in fastbreak points and only turned the ball over five times to help stay steady. 

Rensch knocked down a 3-pointer to open the scoring and after an NSU 3-pointer, Akoi converted an and-one and Te Slaa hit a three of his own to give AU a 9-3 lead in the first 2:13 of game time. 

After a jumper from the Wolves, Akoi drained a 3-pointer to grow the AU lead to seven points. Te Slaa grew it to eight when he followed another Wolves jumper with another three. NSU started to battle from there, going on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 18-18 with 11:12 to go in the first half. 

Following the aforementioned 18-18 stalemate, Ferguson started to cook. A pair of jumpers and a layup from the freshman gave the Vikings a 24-20 lead. After a Wolves 3-pointer, Akoi cashed in an and-one to build the lead back to four with 9:14 left in the half. 

The Wolves started creating momentum in the next segment of action, marching all the way back to take a 38-35 lead with 3:06 to play. They would go scoreless for the remainder of the half as a Rensch 3-pointer, Fried layup and Fried dunk put the Vikings back in front 42-38 at the half. 

Both teams lit it up from deep in the first half as the Wolves shot 7 of 14 and the Vikings shot 7 of 11 from beyond the arc. The Vikings had a 12-0 advantage in fast break points while Akoi led all scorers with 14 points at the break. 

Te Slaa opened the second half scoring with a layup following a Rensch steal to bring the Viking lead to six. The Wolves followed with a layup but Te Slaa knocked down a free throw and Fried cleaned up the offensive glass and finished at the bucket two straight possessions to give AU a 49-40 lead with 17:49 left in the game. 

After each team made a layup to keep the AU lead at nine, The Wolves went on another run. A 16-9 dash in six minutes of action brought them within two at 60-58 and after five straight Viking points, NSU added a 7-0 run to even the score at 63-63 with 9:41 left. 

With 10:43 left in the game, the microwave-like Coleman checked in for the first time. He would break the 63-63 tie a minute later with a 3-pointer and after an NSU turnover, he made a pair of free throws to take a five point lead. After a layup from the Wolves, Akoi knocked down a 3-pointer to get the lead back to six with 7:54 to go. 

That 3-pointer started an 11-0 run as a Conner Kraft 3-pointer, Te Slaa steal and score and Coleman and-one ballooned the lead to 79-65 with 5:52 left in the game. A 6-0 Wolves run got them within eight but a Te Slaa 3-pointer with 2:55 to go brought AU back to double digits at 82-71. 

After a Wolves layup, Ferguson put the game away with a pair of layups to close the scoring. 

The Vikings will host No. 4 Minot State next Saturday, Jan. 18, at 3:30 p.m., inside the Elmen Center.