Box Score

DECATUR, Ill. – Top-ranked Augustana used a blistering shooting performance from the field Saturday to defeat a Millikin squad that came in on a three-game winning streak. The Vikings shot .630 (29 of 46) from the floor and .643 (nine of 14) from three-point range to roll to a 77-52 win at the Griswold Center. Coach Grey Giovanine's club improved to 23-1 on the season and 12-1 in the CCIW, clinching at least a tie for the league championship and home court for the conference tournament, scheduled for February 26-27. The Big Blue fell to 9-15 overall and 3-10 in the CCIW.
 
Augustana jumped on its hosts in a hurry. Senior Jawan Straughter (Plainfield East HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) buried a three-pointer on the first possession and classmate Brandon Motzel (Carmel HS, Buffalo Grove, Ill.) added a conventional three-point play to make it 6-0 barely a minute in. Hunter Hill's (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) only basket of the game, a three-pointer three minutes in, pushed the margin to double digits for the first time at 12-2.
 
After Millikin cut the deficit to five, sophomore Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) capped a 9-2 run with a three-pointer that gave the Vikings a 21-9 lead. After a Nathan Lovekamp trey, senior Tayvian Johnson (United Township HS, East Moline, Ill.) answered with a layup at the 12-minute mark that extended the margin back to double figures (23-12) for good.
 
Sortillo and freshman Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) followed with threes and the lead was 29-12 at the midway point of the first half. A put-back by freshman Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) six minutes before halftime equaled the Vikings' biggest lead of the half at 35-17. Another Lovekamp three drew the Big Blue to within 38-24 at the break.
 
Augustana held Millikin to two points and hit seven of its first eight field goal attempts in the first 7:45 of the second half, pulling away to a 54-26 lead. Junior Michael Hoekstra (Bishop McNamara HS, Saint Anne, Ill.) scored off a great feed from Wofford to give the Vikings their biggest lead of the night—75-45 with 2:36 to play.
 
Giovanine's bunch followed up a .560 (14 of 25) first-half effort from the floor by drilling 15 of 21 (.714) field goal attempts in the second half. The Big Blue had allowed an average of only 57.3 points and .373 shooting in winning its previous three games. In addition, Augustana held Millikin to .370 (17 of 46) shooting from the field and piled up a huge 34-14 advantage on the boards.
 
Griffin Pils (Libertyville HS, Libertyville, Ill.) and Ryan each finished with a game-high 15 points. Pils had a perfect shooting night (5-5 fg, 3-3 3p, 2-2 ft) and added a game-high three assists. Ryan converted seven of nine shots from the floor. Orange missed just one shot in scoring 10 points and Johnson added nine, to go along with a game-high five rebounds.
 
Saturday's contest marked several milestones for this year's club. The team's 23rd win ties Coach Jim Borcherding's 1972-73 team for the most regular season victories in school history. The Vikings can establish a new mark with a win at Wheaton on February 20. Individually, Ryan and Johnson both tied Bruce Hamming's (1971-75) school record for career games played at 111. In addition, each has now played in 89 wins at Augustana, equaling the career total of Mark Brooks (1969-73) and second only to Hamming (94) in program history. Giovanine's seventh CCIW championship ties him for second most of any coach in the 70-year history of the league.
 
The CCIW will take this Wednesday off and the Vikings will attempt to clinch a second straight outright conference championship in the regular season finale at Wheaton on Saturday, February 20. Tipoff at King Arena is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.