Box Score KENOSHA, Wis. – Needing a victory after suffering four straight losses in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play, Augustana went back to a pair of staples in a 65-58 win over Carthage on Saturday, February 8 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Vikings dominated the backboards and suffocated the Red Men defensively to put themselves back in the hunt to make the CCIW tournament for a league-record ninth consecutive time.
 
It was vintage Augustana basketball and it couldn't have come at a better time for head coach Grey Giovanine's bunch. The Vikings beat a tattoo on the boards as they held a dominating 39-22 advantage in rebounding, including 16 on the offensive end. They also got after it defensively and held Carthage to just .372 (16-43) from the field.
 
Sophomore Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) led the Augustana attack with 15 points on five of seven from the floor and five of eight from the free throw line as well as hauling in eight rebounds.
 
Carthage led by a point (24-23) at halftime and had a three point advantage (28-25) early in the second half (18:10). The lead see-sawed back and forth and a free throw by the Red Men's Donte Logan at 8:24 gave the home team its last lead (47-46).
 
Ryan tied the contest for the 11th, and final, time with the first of two free throws at 6:47 and his second charity toss gave the Vikings the lead for good 48-47. Junior Mark Roth (Washington HS, Metamora, Ill.) drilled a three point field goal at 6:22 to give Augustana a four point lead (51-47).
 
Following Roth's triple, Ryan hit a layup at 3:53 to make it 53-47 and sophomore Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) upped the advantage to eight points (55-47) with a basket at 3:18. That capped an 8-0 run but Carthage scored the next six points and with 2:08 the lead was down to a single bucket (55-53).
 
Sophomore Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) nailed two free throws at 1:46 to make it 57-53 and Straughter then pulled in a defensive rebound at one end and scored a layup at the other and the Vikings led 59-53 with just 1:13 to play. Two free throws by Carthage's Marlon Senior with :40 left sliced the lead to four (59-55) but Ryan hit two free throws at :33 to push the advantage back to six (61-55).
 
Malcom Kelly hit a three-point field goal with :26 to play to make it 61-58 but Hill's two free throws gave Augustana some breathing room at 63-58 with :19 left and two free throws by sophomore Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) sealed the game and accounted for the final score of 65-58.
 
Johnson joined Ryan in double figures with 10 points while Hill and Straughter each scored eight. While Ryan led the team in rebounding with eight, Johnson added seven boards and a pair of blocked shots.
 
The Vikings only shot .321 (9-28) from the field in the first half but in the second stanza they scorched the nets at a .583 (14-24) clip. They also hit 17 of 22 from the free throw line.
 
Carthage was led in scoring by Kelly with 18 points but he was just five of 15 from the field.
 
Augustana, now 16-6 overall and 6-5 in the CCIW, will play at Millikin on Wednesday, February 12 at 7:00 p.m. Carthage falls to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in league play.