SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – In a game full of back-and-forth action, the Augustana men’s basketball team secured a 61-58 victory at Sioux Falls Friday night and spoiler the Cougars’ hopes of celebrating their first Northern Sun southern division title.
USF could still do so today with a home win over Wayne State in a game you can hear on KWSN at 5:30, or if Upper Iowa loses at Concordia-St. Paul. But the Cougars, three games up in the division with three games left, have lost back-to-back games, and the surging Vikings had a lot to do with that on Friday in a packed Stewart Center.
It was an offensive rebound with four seconds on the clock that sealed the game as freshman Isaac Fink went to the free-throw line and sank a pair of free throws for the final score. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Adam Dykman intercepted the full-court attempted pass to end any possibility of the Cougars tying the game.
Augustana knocks off the NSIC South Division’s top seed and improves to 12-9 in NSIC action and 17-10 overall. Sioux Falls, who would have captured the South Division Championship with a win, falls to 20-7 overall and 16-5 in NSIC play.
The first half totaled six lead changes and saw four ties but Augustana entered intermission leading 29-28, much in part to Fink’s 17 first-half points. The freshman was 4-of-4 from 3-point range and was perfect from the charity stripe.
The back-and-forth didn’t slow down in the second half. First, USF went on a 9-2 run to take a six-point lead at 37-31 in the opening minutes of the first half. After an Augustana timeout, the Vikings turned the score around and knotted the game at 37-all before capturing the lead on a Michael Schaefer jumper for a 41-40 score.
With the score knotted at 47 and 8:35 remaining in the game, junior Jameson Bryan hit a transition 3-point basket to give AU a 50-47 lead. It was an advantage Augustana would not lose, and twice held a six-point advantage, before the final 61-58 score.
The Cougars had trimmed the lead to a single-digit before Dykman made an athletic-move to the basket, scoring on a layup to push the lead back to three. However, USF had an answer of its own on the ensuing possession.
That set up the offensive rebound play for Fink, which actually included two offensive rebounds and took the clock from 51 seconds to just four on the one Augustana possession.
Fink concluded the game with 21 points while Dykman tallied 11. Tyler Riemersma grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and dished four assists.
Sioux Falls was led by Chase Grinde with 17 points.
The Vikings close the regular season Saturday at Southwest Minnesota State. Tip-off in Marshall, Minnesota, is slated for 6 p.m.
