Box Score
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Solid defense, balanced offense and strong rebounding was the recipe Wednesday night as 15th-ranked Augustana moved to 6-1 on the year with a 79-57 win over Central at Carver Center. The Dutch dropped to 5-4 on the season.
 
Defensively, the Vikings held a Central outfit averaging 84.0 points per contest to just 57 on .344 (21 of 61) shooting from the floor. The Dutch were just seven of 27 (.259) from beyond the three-point arc and went to the free throw line just 12 times, making eight (.667).
 
The Vikings' balanced offensive effort was led by Tayvian Johnson's (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) 15 points. Danielius Jurgutis (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) and Kevin Schlitter (Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Ill.) added a dozen each, Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) and Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) nine apiece, Mark Roth (Washington HS, Metamora, Ill.) eight and Nic Hoepfner (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) six. Augustana finished the night 30 of 53 (.566) from the field, four of eight (.500) from long range and 15 of 21 (.714) at the line.
 
Schlitter, with eight, Johnson, with seven and Ryan, with six, led Augustana on the boards as the hosts piled up a 40-28 advantage on the glass.
 
The Vikings established Schlitter early and the big man had the game's first two baskets. Matt Greenfield and Kevin Kaerwer answered with buckets for Central as the Dutch forged the game's only tie at 4-4. Johnson followed with an old-fashioned three-point play, giving the Vikings a lead which they would maintain through the rest of the game.
 
Johnson's put back at the 10:08 mark of the first half pushed the margin to double digits at 23-12. Augustana took a 39-27 lead to intermission. Doing most of his damage with mid-range jumpers, Jurgutis led the Vikings with 10 points at the break.
 
Ryan scored five points as Augustana opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go up 46-27. The Dutch would whittle the deficit to 12 points with 13 minutes left, but Pils drove the left baseline and found Roth in the right corner for a three-pointer and a 51-36 Viking lead. A little more than a minute later, the same combination teamed up for another Roth trey and Augustana led 56-38.
 
A Pils jumper with 41 seconds left gave the home team its biggest lead of the night at 79-54 before a three from Central's Fred Pratt accounted for the final.
 
The Vikings are back in action at Carver Center on Saturday, December 14, taking on MacMurray in a 7:30 p.m. contest.