Box Score

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Augustana used a game-high 18 points from Danielius Jurgutis (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) along with outstanding defense and rebounding to defeat North Central 75-64 at Gregory Arena Wednesday night. The top-ranked Vikings improve to 14-1 overall and take over sole possession of the CCIW lead at 4-0. The Cardinals, who came into the game ranked ninth in the nation, suffered just their second loss in 15 outings and fell to 3-1 in the league.
 
Augustana led 13-9 in the early going before Erwin Henry scored five straight points to give North Central its first lead with 11:39 to play in the first half. The next five and a half minutes saw nine lead changes as the teams traded baskets. The Vikings finally got consecutive field goals on a pair of Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) layups, but a three-pointer by the Cardinals' David Fuller tied it at 25. After two Jurgutis free throws, Mike Reinke scored to forge the final tie of the evening at 27-all.
 
From there, the visitors went on a 14-4 run highlighted by a conventional three-point play and a three-point field goal by junior Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.). Jayme Moten's three-pointer with six seconds left finally stopped the spurt and sent North Central to the halftime break trailing 41-34.
 
Charlie Rosenberg scored the first basket of the second half to pull the Cardinals within 41-36, but Jurgutis answered with a conventional three-point play, sparking a 14-0 Augustana run. A Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) trey capped the spurt and gave the visitors a 55-36 lead with 14:13 to play.
 
North Central responded with an 11-0 run of its own to get within eight and a Kevin Honn layup at the 10:00 minute mark cut the Viking lead to 57-52, but that's as close as the Cardinals would get. Jurgutis' jumper with eight minutes left bumped the margin back to 10 (64-54) and it bounced between seven and nine until the 2:23 mark when junior Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) was fouled on a three-point attempt. He converted all three free throws to give Augustana a 72-62 advantage. Jurgutis hit two free throws and Ryan one over the final 1:10 as the Vikings kept North Central at bay.
 
Led by Motzel's nine rebounds, Ryan's seven and five each by Straughter and Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.), Augustana won the battle of the boards 39-30. Coach Grey Giovanine's bunch also held the Cardinals to .351 (20-57) shooting from the field. Motzel joined Jurgutis in double figures with 10 points, while Ryan and Hill added nine each, as did senior Nic Hoepfner (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.), seeing his first playing time in more than a month following an injury. The Vikings finished the night 25 of 50 (.500) from the floor, four of seven (.571) from behind the arc and 21 of 27 (.778) from the free throw line. Moten led North Central with a game-high 22 points.
 
The Vikings are back at Carver Center on Saturday, January 17, hosting Wheaton. Tipoff for that contest is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.