SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team closes a four-game homestand and the 2024-25 home slate this weekend inside the Sanford Pentagon. The Vikings will host Bemidji State on Friday at 5:30 p.m., before hosting St. Cloud State at 3:30 p.m., on Saturday. Akoi Akoi, th elone senior on this year's team, will be honored prior to Saturday's game. 

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 Beavers
Bemidji State was picked to finish fifth in the NSIC and are 7-11 in the NSIC, good for 11th place. John Sutherland is averaging 17.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game since coming back from injury. Tate Olson adds 11.8 points and 9.0 rebounds. John Pecarich has shot 42.1 percent from 3-point range this season and adds 10.2 points per game. 

About the Huskies
St. Cloud State was picked to finish ninth in the NSIC Preseason Poll but are currently tied for third and are one game out of first place with a 12-6 record in the NSIC. Luke Winkel leads the team with 13.3 points per game while Nate Dahl adds 12.5 and 5.3 rebounds per game. The Huskies have four players averaging double figures.

About the Vikings
Augustana is 10-15 overall and 7-12 in the NSIC after dropping Tuesday's game against Sioux Falls. The Vikings are 12th in the NSIC and in-line for a first round NSIC Tournament game on the road.

Tanner Te Slaa holds the team lead with 14.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game with 63 made 3-pointers. He also leads the NSIC shooting 39.9 percent from deep and 86.3 percent free throw percentage. 

Akoi Akoi is second on the Vikings with 13.8 points per game while shooting 45.6 percent from the field. He is also second on the team with 61 assists, an 82.4 free throw percentage and 16 blocks. 

Sam Rensch adds 12.1 points per game and 1.6 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that ranks third in the NSIC in turnover margin.

Tameron Ferguson continues to grow into his own while running the point for the Vikings. Ferguson has scored in double figures for the 10 times in his last 15 games. He scored a career-best 25 points against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 14 and had a career-high nine assists on Feb. 11 against Sioux Falls.

The true freshman is fourth on the team with 9.4 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 86/27 assist/turnover ratio. Ferguson ranks first in the NSIC and 12th nationally with a 3.19 assist/turnover ratio. 

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 7.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In 18 games since entering the starting lineup, Fried is averaging 8.9 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting at a 57.4 percent clip. 

Against No. 13 SMSU on Jan. 30, Jack Hastreiter had a career night from deep to power the win. He scored a career-high 24 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including 7 of 7 from deep. Hastreiter had the second most makes without a miss in program history.

Kelton Coleman has been the microwave off the bench for the Vikings. The sophomore has scored double digits seven times this season, including a season-high 19 in 22 minutes against Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. He is sixth on the team with 7.7 points per game, a number that balloons to 11.3 points per game over the last seven games. 

Series History
Augustana has won 19 of 28 games against the Beavers all-time and are 9-3 at home. The last meeting in Sioux Falls cane two seasons ago, a Bemidji State victory. Earlier this season, AU knocked down 17 of 32 from deep and had five players in double figures to lift them to a 98-66 rout.

Augustana and St. Cloud State will match up for the 96th time all-time with the Huskies taking 48 of the previous meetings. AU enters on a sevem game win streak, including three consecutive wins at home. It will be the first regular season meeting between the two teams since 2022. Earlier this season, Akoi Akoi made a layup and had a key block in the final 20 seconds to give AU a 71-69 victory.