Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Three straight Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) three-pointers in the second half sparked top-ranked Augustana to a 78-74 win over Wheaton Saturday night at Carver Center. The victory lifted the Vikings to 15-1 overall and 5-0 in the CCIW. Wheaton fell to 8-8 on the season and 1-4 in the league.

Trailing 54-51 as the game clock ticked below 10 minutes, junior Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) scored off a Danielius Jurgutis (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) feed to get Augustana within one. After a defensive stop, a Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) offensive rebound kept the Vikings' next possession alive and Sortillo took advantage, burying a three to give his team a 56-54 lead with 8:57 to play. He hit another with 7:44 left and a third at the 7:02 mark to put Augustana ahead 62-56.

Wheaton, behind Brayden Teuscher, stayed within striking distance, but the Vikings maintained a lead of at least four points until Joel Smith's trey with 54 seconds left got the Thunder to within 76-74. Wheaton got a stop on the next Viking possession and had a chance to take the lead with 10 seconds left on Caleb DeMoss' three-pointer from the right win. DeMoss' attempt bounded long and Jurgutis was fouled and made both free throws with seven seconds left to ice the win.

Augustana led 38-37 at halftime following a first stanza that saw 11 lead changes and six ties. The Thunder outshot the Vikings .524 (11 of 21) to .355 (11-31) from the field, but trailed due in part to a 19-11 Augustana advantage on the boards. Teuscher had a dozen and Hill 14 at the break, with each converting eight of eight first half free throw attempts.

Teuscher added 20 in the second half and on four separate occasions scored to give Wheaton its biggest lead of the half at three points. He finished with a game-high 32.

Hill led the Vikings with 22 points, including four of eight from long range. Junior forward Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) added 13 points and seven rebounds and senior center Nic Hoepfner (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) continued his successful return from an injury with a dozen points and a game-high eight rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Sortillo scored nine on those three second half treys.

For the game, Augustana was 25 of 59 (.424) from the floor and nine of 22 (.409) from behind the arc. The Vikings also converted 19 of 23 (.826) from the free throw line. Wheaton connected on 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field, .444 (eight of 18) from long range and the nation's leading free throw shooting team hit 18 of 20 (.900) from the charity stripe. Coach Grey Giovanine's team outrebounded the Thunder 38 to 24 and committed just 11 turnovers to 13 for the visitors.

Augustana is back in action next Wednesday, January 21, hosting Illinois Wesleyan in a 7:00 p.m. tilt. Giovanine will be going for his 300th win at Augustana in that game.