MINOT, N.D. - The Augustana men's basketball team dropped its regular season finale on Thursday night, losing 82-78 to Minot State inside the Minot State Dome.

The Vikings conclude the regular season 11-17 overall and 8-14 in the NSIC while Minot State moves to 22-8, 13-8 with one game remaining. 

Tameron Ferguson led the team with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists while going 8 of 12 from the field. Sam Rensch and Tanner Te Slaa added 14 points apiece, combining to shoot 10 of 21 from the field while Te Slaa grabbed four rebounds. Also in double figures was Akoi Akoi whose 12 points moved him within 17 of the 1,000 career point plateau. 

Akoi and Ferguson opened the scoring before back-to-back 3-pointers from the Beavers gave them the lead. MiSU inched ahead 8-6 but five Coleman points led a 13-0 Viking run, holding the Beavers to 0-8 from the field, to sprint ahead 19-8 with 9:10 left in the first half. 

A Beaver flurry followed as a 13-2 run evened the scoring at 21-21 with 5:56 to go. Akoi ended the run with a layup and Rensch followed an MiSU free throw with a 3-pointer and Ferguson added a jumper to take a 28-22 lead with 4:16 remaining. 

Rensch knocked down another 3-pointer after three Beaver points to start a four-possession run of made shots to keep the score within three points. In the final minute, MiSU slammed home a dunk and Te Slaa got to the bucket for a layup to give AU a 35-32 lead at the break. 

The game evened out at 39-39 within the first 3:14 of the second half. Each team knocked down a 3-pointer in the next minute before a pair of free throws put the Beavers in front with 15:02 to play. 

The final tie of the game came at 44-44 after an Akoi jumper put him in double figures with 13:44 remaining. A 7-2 run put the Beavers ahead by multiple possessions and after the Vikings got back within two with a Conner Kraft jumper and Rensch free throw, another 7-2 run jumped MiSU back ahead by seven at 58-51 with 9:19 left. 

Ferguson knocked down a 3-pointer and Kraft scored around the rim to get back within two. In what ended up being a common stretch, the Beavers scored seven of the next seven of the next nine points to go back ahead seven with 5:58 remaining. 

Three Te Slaa points and a 3-pointer from Bennett Fried brought AU within a point and Ferguson knocked down a jumper after a jumper from the Beavers to make it 67-66 MiSU with 4:10 left. That would be as close as it would get the rest of the way with the Beavers slowly trudging ahead, outscoring the Vikings 15-12 in the last 4:10 to bring the game to its final score. 

Augustana will await the weekend results before finding out its next opponent, hitting the road for the first round of the NSIC Tournament.