Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. – Clicking on all cylinders, Augustana dominated Carthage in all aspects of the game and picked up an impressive 73-42 win on Saturday, January 3 in the Kenosha, Wisconsin. It was the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin opener and for the second ranked Vikings, who were picked to win the league in the preseason coach's poll, it was a perfect start.
 
This game was never really in doubt as head coach Grey Giovanine's team only trailed in the early going with Carthage's last lead coming at 14:55 in the first half (10-7). From that point, Augustana took command and sprinted out to a 33-21 lead at intermission.
 
The Vikings shot .527 (29-55) from the field and hit on nine of 11 from the free throw line. They also dominated the backboards to the tune of a 40-24 margin and had just 11 turnovers to 15 for the hosts. Augustana limited the Red Men to just .340 (16-47) from the floor and only .176 (3-17) from three point range.
 
Junior Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) led the way with 20 points as he connected on eight of 10 from the floor and three of three from the free throw line. Ryan also made his only three point field goal attempt. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. He was joined in double figures by senior Danielius Jurgutis (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) with 13 and junior Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) with 10. Johnson also pulled down eight rebounds. Junior Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) scored nine points and had three assists and one steal without a turnover from his point guard position.
 
A basket by Cameron Van Wyk gave Carthage its last lead by a score of 10-7 early in the first half. Van Wyk, who was fouled on the play, missed his free throw and Ryan's three point field goal tied the game at 10-10 at the 14:19 mark. It was all Vikings after that as a 20-5 run over the next nine minutes made the score 30-15 with 5:09 left following a basket by junior Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.).
 
The Red Men closed the half on a short 6-3 run to cut the margin to 12 (33-21) at intermission as Mike Stevenson's bucket beat the halftime buzzer. Stevenson had 11 points at halftime for the hosts but he would not score again in the game and would be limited to just two shot by a smothering Augustana defense.
 
In the second half a three point basket by Carthage's Brad Kruse at the 18:28 mark made it a nine-point contest (35-26) but Ryan's basket made it 37-26 at 18:07 and the Augustana lead was never below double digits after that.
 
The margin went over 20 (48-26) when Jurgutis buried a three point field goal at 16:25 and it reached 30 (57-27) when freshman Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) scored at 10:47. Sortillo would end the game with eight points.
 
The advantage never got to 40 but it did reach 39 (70-31) on a basket by Straughter at 6:24. Straughter's basket capped a 37-10 run over the first 13:26 of the second half.
 
Augustana, now 11-1 overall and 1-0 in the CCIW, will host Elmhurst on Wednesday, January 7 in a key early season conference match-up. Carthage falls to 4-7 and 0-1.