Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – It would be hard to determine at which end of the court the Augustana men's basketball team was more impressive Saturday night. The sixth-ranked Vikings put on a clinic at both ends in defeating Marietta 100-51 at a raucous Carver Center. The 12th-ranked Pioneers had lost just three times in 31 previous outings this year. Augustana improved to 26-4 on the season. The win earned Coach Grey Giovanine's club a trip to the NCAA Division III Final Four in Salem, Virginia—the program's fifth all-time and first since 1993.
 
Marietta led exactly twice in the contest—at 3-2 and 5-4— for a total of 1:20. A three-pointer by Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) with 17:23 left in the first half gave the hosts the lead for good at 7-5.
 
The advantage grew quickly, reaching double digits for the first time at 20-9 on a Jake Norcia (Highland Park HS, Highland Park, Ill.) three at the 13:12 mark. By the time the first half clock ticked under 10 minutes, it had ballooned to 27-12. A pair of Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) free throws pushed it over 20 (37-16) for the first time with 5:21 left and it reached 30 (48-18) on another Pils trey 1:42 before halftime. Marietta's Luis Garcia and Viking junior Hunter Hill (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) traded baskets and Augustana went to the locker room leading 50-20.
 
The onslaught didn't slow in the second half. A Brandon Motzel (Carmel HS, Grayslake, Ill.) bucket with 14:50 remaining pushed the margin to 40 at 64-24. The Pioneers answered with eight straight, but Augustana outscored them 36-19 over the final 12:35. The final margin was the Vikings' biggest of the night. Norcia's three-pointer with 22 seconds left accounted for the final.
 
Augustana's defense was suffocating against the nation's 10th-best scoring offense (83.5 ppg). One night after holding high-scoring Mount Union (85.6 ppg) to a season-low 69 points, the Vikings held Marietta 15 points below its previous low this season.  The Pioneers shot just .286 from the floor—nearly 20 percentage points below their season average—and connected on just four of 23 (.174) three-point attempts.
 
The performance was just as impressive on the offensive end. The hosts shot .618 from the floor on 34 of 55 attempts. After suffering through its worst three-point shooting game of the year on Friday, Giovanine's club scorched the nets with 13 treys in 18 attempts (.722). For good measure, Augustana hit its first 19 free throw attempts before a miss on its final trip. The Vikings also outrebounded Marietta—ninth in the nation in rebound margin—by a 37-26 count and committed just eight turnovers in the contest, while dishing out 22 assists.
 
Individually, Hill led the way with 17 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free throw line. Pils had 16 and buried all four of his three-point attempts. Johnson scored 13 and shared team-high rebounding honors (six each) with Motzel. Junior Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) added a dozen points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Norcia (nine points, 3-3 threes), Motzel (8 points, 3-3 from the field) and senior Danielius Jurgutis (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) (8 points, 3-4 field goals, 2-2 threes) were all on the cusp of double figures as well. Junior Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) had a team-high five assists.
 
Augustana will face Babson (29-2) in a national semifinal contest on Friday March 20. Tipoff in Salem, Virginia is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. EDT. Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Virginia Wesleyan will face off in the other semifinal. The winners will meet on Saturday, March 21 at 3:00 p.m. EDT for the 2015 national championship.