SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Augustana men's basketball team closed its weekend with a 54-48 loss to Wayne State on Saturday afternoon inside the Elmen Center. 

The Vikings fall to 10-12 overall and 7-9 in the NSIC while the Wildcats jump to 14-8, 8-8. 

Tanner Te Slaa had 16 points on 5 of 8 shooting, including 4 of 6 from deep. Sam Rensch led the team with seven rebounds while scoring nine points and Tameron Ferguson added nine points and three steals. Akoi Akoi tallied seven points, six assists and five rebounds. 

Rensch knocked down a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game and the Wildcats countered with eight straight points for the lead. Over the next 10 minutes and 40 seconds of action, The Vikings ripped off a 7-0 run while holding the Wildcats to 0 of 13 from the field and 0 of 9 from three to give AU a 10-8 lead with 6:21 left in the first half. 

The Wildcats went on to score five of the next seven points to take a 13-12 lead with 4:41 left in the half. A Te Slaa 3-pointer put AU in front, but it was quickly erased when a 5-0 WSC run gave them a three point advantage in the final 100 seconds. Kelton Coleman and Ferguson ended the half with 2-pointers on each side of a Wildcat offensive glass cleaning to bring them within 20-19 at the half. 

After nearly three minutes of scoreless basketball opened the second half, WSC scored the first four points to grow its lead to five. Ferguson knocked down a jumper to end the run and then Akoi followed a Wildcat layup with an and-one to bring AU within 26-24 with 15:12 remaining. 

WSC took its largest lead of the day at 34-26 with 13:06 remaining. Te Slaa and Akoi paired up to score the next five points, bringing the Vikings within a possession and after a Wildcat Free throw, Rensch made a layup and Ferguson drilled a 3-pointer to give AU a 36-35 lead with 9:10 left. 

Te Slaa followed up a Wildcat bucket with a 3-pointer of his own to put the Vikings ahead by a pair. After four straight WSC points, Akoi and Ferguson combined for four to regain the lead. In the final 5:34 of game time, the Wildcats scored 13 points while AU scored just five, with Te Slaa accounting for all five, to close out the game. 

The Vikings hit the road on Wednesday, taking on Winona State at 5:30 p.m.