Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa), Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) and Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) combined for 33 second-half points Friday, repeatedly driving the lane for buckets and leading Augustana to an 88-73 win over Central at Carver Center. The 24th-ranked Vikings improved to 8-3 on the season, while the Dutch suffered just their second loss in nine outings.
 
Facing a 35-34 deficit and the prospect of trying to slow down the nation's 10th leading scorer, Colby Taylor—who hadn't played in the first half—Augustana started the second half with Sortillo getting a layup off an inbounds pass from Jacob Johnston (Erie HS, Cordova, Ill.) for a 36-35 lead.
 
Taylor, who started the second half, answered with a three-pointer and his field goal at the 18:24 mark put Central back up by five, 43-38. Orange's third driving layup in a span of a minute and a half trimmed the Viking deficit to 46-44, but another Taylor trey with 13:36 to play gave the visitors their biggest lead of the second half at 53-46.
 
Then it was sophomore Brett Benning's (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) turn to take over. After a Johnston basket, Benning scored 10 straight points in less than two minutes. He hit a pair of free throws, a layup and a pair of three-pointers, the second of which put the Vikings on top 58-57 and they wouldn't trail again.
 
Central got as close as 62-60 on a Trashawn Boyd three-pointer at the 9:07 mark, but a Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) free throw and buckets by Orange and Ebel extended the advantage back to seven. It reached 10 (74-64) on a conventional three-point play by Sortillo with 4:24 left and his three-pointer with the shot clock winding down at 3:01 pushed the margin back to double digits (77-67) for good.  The final minute was highlighted by an Ebel-to-Johnston alley-oop dunk.
 
After Augustana took a 6-0 lead on a pair of Sortillo jumpers and one by Johnston, Central answered with an 18-2 run to go up 18-8. The margin reached 11 (21-10) on a Boyd three-pointer with 11:37 to play on the first half, but Ebel responded with a trey and the Vikings began whittling away at the deficit.
 
A key play happened just inside eight minutes, when Johnston blocked a Pete Walker shot and then hit a three-pointer in transition at the other end. Not only did that trim the margin to 25-22, but Walker hit the floor hard on the play and had to leave with an arm injury.
 
Augustana eventually tied it at 29-all when Orange fed Martin for a dunk 3:39 before halftime. Ebel's third three-pointer of the half gave the hosts a 34-30 advantage at the 2:00 mark, but the Dutch scored the final five points of the half to lead by one at the break.
 
Ebel and Sortillo each finished with a double-double. Ebel had career highs of 21 points and 10 assists, to go along with five rebounds. Sortillo's 24 points were a career high and his 10 rebounds were one shy of his previous career best. Orange finished with 11 points—all in the second half—and five assists. Johnston also scored 11 and Benning 10. The 5' 8" Boyd led the Dutch with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Taylor—who came in averaging 24.8 points per game—added 14 in just 18 minutes.
 
The Vikings finished 32 of 59 (.542) from the field, including seven of 17 (.412) from three-point range, and hit their season average of .810 from the free throw line, going 17 of 21. Central hit .422 (27-64) from the floor, .375 (12-32) from beyond the arc and just .500 (7-14) from the foul line. Augustana outrebounded the visitors 38-33 and committed 17 turnovers to 14 for the Dutch.
 
In the second half, the Vikings shot .621 (18-29) from the field, held Central to .385 (15-39) and outrebounded the visitors by a 26-14 margin.
 
Augustana will wrap up regular season non-conference play on New Year's Eve, traveling to Stevens Point, Wisconsin to take on four-time NCAA Division III champion Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 3:00 p.m.