SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana men's basketball team returns to the road for a Wednesday game at Winona State. The Vikings and Warriors will tangle at 5:30 p.m.

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 Warriors Winona State was picked to finish 11th in the NSIC and is currently tied for fifth with a record of 15-7 overall and 10-6 in the NSIC after splitting with Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State last week. Luke Haertle leads the team with 17.0 points per game while shooting 44.5 percent from the field. He is one of five averaging in double figures. Connor Drew adds 13.8 points per game while Isaiah Thompson is scoring 13.9 points and grabs 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.7 percent from the field.

About the Vikings
Augustana is 10-12 overall and 7-9 in the NSIC after a ranked road victory and a home loss. The Vikings are 11th in the NSIC and just two games back of a spot to host a first round NSIC Tournament game.

Against No. 13 SMSU, Jack Hastreiter had a career night from deep and Akoi Akoi flirted with a triple-double to power the win. Hastreiter scored a career-high 24 points on 8 of 9 shooting, including 7 of 7 from deep, off the bench while Akoi had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while going a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line. The seven made 3-pointers by Hastreiter is the second most makes without a miss in program history.

Tanner Te Slaa holds the team lead with 14.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 40.0 percent from deep on 54 makes. Akoi is second on the Vikings with 13.0 points per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field. He is also second on the team with 16 blocks.

Sam Rensch adds 11.1 points per game and 1.6 steals per game while providing havoc to a defense that ranks second 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 nine times in his last 12 games and has shot 47.4 percent from he field in that span. He scored a career-best 25 points against Concordia-St. Paul on Dec. 14. The true freshman is fourth on the team with 9.5 points per game and has facilitated well, holding a 68/25 assist/turnover ratio. Ferguson ranks first in the NSIC and 29th nationally with a 2.72 assist/turnover ratio.

In his first season of action, Bennett Fried has already shown growth. The redshirt freshman is averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. In 16 games since entering the starting lineup, Fried is averaging 9.1 points and a team-best 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting at a 60.2 percent clip.

Trends To Watch
The Vikings are 8-4 when leading at the half this season. The defense has propelled AU as they are 10-8 when holding opponents under 50 percent shooting from the field and are 7-2 when holding teams under 70 points. Offensively, the engine runs when the 3-pointers fall. The Vikings are 4-1 on the season when making more 3-pointers than their opponent. AU also sees success when they clean up the glass, touting a 7-2 record when they out-rebound their opponents.

Series History
Augustana and Winona State will match up for the 41st time all-time with the teams each winning 20 games in the series. AU is 6-10 in Winona and enter on a 5-game losing streak in the series.