MOORHEAD, Minn. - The Augustana men's basketball team dropped a tight contest on Saturday afternoon, falling 75-71 to No. 17 Black Hills State on Saturday afternoon at the Nemzek Fieldhouse.

The Vikings (1-3) were led by the 20 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals of Tameron Ferguson. Caden Hinker recorded his third consecutive double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Bennett Fried added 11 points and nine boards. 

After BHSU scored the first two points of the contest, the Vikings knocked down four of seven shots and forced the Yellow Jackets into seven consecutive misses to rattle off an 11-0 run behind five Ferguson points. The lead ballooned to as many as 11 when a Caden Hinker 3-pointer at the 10:55 mark of the first half made it 18-7 AU.

BHSU marched back with a 17-3 run to take a 24-21 lead with 4:38 to go in the half. A Brady Helgren dunk ended the run and brought the Vikings back within a point but the Yellow Jackets would go on to score seven of the final 11 points to take a 31-27 lead at the half. 

Coming out of the break down four, Augustana matched Black Hills State punch-for-punch over the final 20 minutes, but a late Yellow Jacket basket held up as the decider. 

Black Hills State opened the half by keeping its slim edge, nudging the lead to five on a Jaeton Hackley three at 18:29 and later stretching it to seven at 14:23 after Cam Lowe connected from deep for a 45-40 margin. Augustana answered quickly. Rensch buried a triple on the next trip, and the Vikings kept grinding possessions defensively to stay within a couple of scores.

Midway through the period, the Jackets pushed the advantage to 50-43 at the 13:10 mark on a pair of free throws, then again created separation with a spurt that made it 63-55 following a Blake Volmer three with 5:05 remaining. Augustana didn't fold. Hinker and Fried scored on back-to-back interior looks to trim the gap, and the Vikings' pressure defense generated key steals to fuel the comeback.

The turning point came late when Black Hills State converted at the rim to go up 71-61 with 2:18 left. From there, Augustana rallied hard: Tameron Ferguson hit two free throws, then snagged a steal and scored in transition. Another Ferguson finish plus a free throw cut it to 71-66 inside two minutes. After a defensive stop, the Vikings had their chance—Rensch knocked down a huge three with 37 seconds left to make it a two-point game, 73-71.

Black Hills State responded in the final seconds, slipping in a layup with nine ticks left to re-establish a four-point cushion. Augustana had a final look at the buzzer, but couldn't get the tying attempt to fall, sealing the 75-71 final.

The Vikings open NSIC action on Tuesday, traveling south for a matchup against Wayne State.