SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team heads into the weekend with a pair of South Division road matchups against St. Cloud State and Minnesota State. On Thursday, the Vikings will take on the Huskies at 5:30 p.m., on Thursday before a 5:30 p.m., Saturday tip-off at the Mavericks.
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 selected to finish second in the NSIC Preseason Poll. The Huskies are 5-3 on the season and are the only othher remaining NSIC unbeaten in the South division. Luke Winkel is scoring 20.1 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field while Bob Griechen adds 11.6 points per game and Wyatt Hawks grabs a team-best 8.5 rebounds per game.
About the Mavericks
Minnesota State was selected to finish third overall in the NSIC Preseason Poll. The Mavericks have started 6-5 overall and 0-3 in the NSIC following a home loss against Concordia-St. Paul. Malcolm Jones is one of three Mavs in double figures, averaging 16.1 points per game while leading the team with 7.9 rebounds per game.
Last Time Out
In a double overtime thriller down South Summit Avenue, the Augustana men's basketball team outlasted Sioux Falls 108-106 on Saturday afternoon in the Stewart Center.
The Vikings shot 57.1 percent from the field and knocked down 29 of 38 free throws while holding the Cougars to 44.8 percent from the field and outscoring USF 18-7 on the fast break and 52-40 in the paint.
Tameron Ferguson powered the offense with 28 points, seven assists and four rebounds while Sam Rensch added 24 points, nine boards and four assists to go with three steals. Tanner Te Slaa continued his dominant stretch with 22 points while Bennett Fried tallied 17 points and three blocks. Caden Hinker rounded out the starting five with 12 points and a game-high five blocks to anchor the defense.
About the Vikings
Augustana has opened the season 5-3 overall and 3-0 in the NSIC after an emphatic NSIC sweep of SMSU and Sioux Falls. They did that after playing a tough non-conference slate, with two of their three losses coming by four points or less.
Tameron Ferguson has been strong to open his sophomore campaign, leading the team with 21.9 points and 6.1 assists per game while shooting 62.1 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep. He has tallied at least 20 points in six of his last seven games, including a 28-point performance against Sioux Falls on Dec. 6. He is also the first Viking to record multiple point-assist double doubles since Jordan Spencer in 2017-18.
After missing all of last season, Caden Hinker has been a dominant force in his return. The redshirt junior has recorded double-doubles in four of his last seven games while leading the team with 7.5 rebounds per game, including an NSIC-best 7.0 defensive rebounds per game. He's second on the team with 14.9 points per game and scored a career-high 22 points against Wayne State on Nov. 26 while grabbing a career-high 12 rebounds against Northwest Missouri State on Nov. 15.
Senior Sam Rensch is third on the team with 13.9 points per game. He is second on the team with 2.5 assists per game and has grabbed 4.5 rebounds per contest. He has recorded multiple steals in his last six of eight contests and scored a season-high 24 points against Sioux Falls in 46 minutes on Saturday. He also leads the team with 2.0 steals per game.
After a slow start, 2024-25 All-NSIC Second Team selection, Tanner Te Slaa, is finding his groove. The senior has scored at least 15 points in each of the last four games while knocking down 14 of 24 shots from deep and 20 of 34 from the field. On the season, he's averaging 11.3 points per game and shooting 37.5 percent from deep.
Series History
Augustana and SCSU will meet for the 97th time with the Huskies leading the series 49-47. The Vikings had a seven-game win streak snap in February last season but have won the last four games in St. Cloud. All-time, AU is 17-28 away from home in the series.
The Vikings haven't played an NSIC opponent as much as Minnesota State, with Saturday marking the 133rd meeting between the two clubs. The Mavericks have taken the last three in the series to lead 69-63 all-time while the Vikings had taken the four games prior. In 62 matchups in Mankato, Augustana has won 20 of them, splitting the last 10 matchups.
