SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team opens the 2025 slate with a pair of road games against St. Cloud State and Bemidji State. The Vikings will play the Huskies at 7:30 p.m., on Friday before a 5:30 p.m., tip against the Beavers 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 Huskies
St. Cloud State was picked to finish ninth in the NSIC Preseason Poll but has started 4-2, including three straight wins against Northern State, UMary and Bemidji State. Nate Dahl leads the team with 12.3 points per game while Wyatt Hawks adds 10.1 and 7.9 rebounds per game. The Huskies have six players averaging at least 8.2 points per game. 

About the Beavers
Bemidji State was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC and have started the season 5-7 overall and 2-4 in conference play. The Beavers are 3-2 at home on the season. Malang Athian scores 12.4 points per game while Tate Olson adds 10.4 points and 8.3 rebounds. Peyton Newbern has been an impact transfer for BSU, averaging 8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while adding a team-high 1.8 steals per game. 

About the Vikings
Augustana is 5-8 after taking games over then-No. 24 Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State just before break. 

Tanner Te Slaa scores 14.2 points and grabs 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 39.0 percent from deep, both team-highs. Akoi Akoi is second on the Vikings with 12.8 points per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field. He is also second on the team with 2.2 assists per game. 

Sam Rensch adds 11.8 points per game and adds 1.9 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that forces the third most turnovers in the NSIC.

Tameron Ferguson continues to grow into his own while running the point for the Vikings. Ferguson scored 16 points and grabbed six rebounds against Wayne State, following up a six assist, three steal game against Southwest Minnesota State. He scored a career-best 25 points while grabbing four rebounds against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 14. The true freshman is fourth on the team with 7.9 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 33/13 assist/turnover ratio. 

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 7.6 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. In nine games since entering the starting lineup, Fried is fourth on the team with 10.1 points and leads with 6.6 rebounds per game while scoring at a 59.6 percent clip. 

Series History
Augustana and St. Cloud State will match up for the 95th time all-time with the Huskies taking 48 of the previous meetings. AU enters on a six game win streak, including three consecutive wins on the road. It will be the third straight season that the Vikings have to travel to St. Cloud.  

Augustana has won 18 of 27 games against the Beavers all-time and will travel to Bemidji for the 13th time as the Vikings are 7-5 on the road. A season ago, AU went on the road and knocked off BSU 98-77.

--GoAugie.com--