Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana held Carroll without a point for more than nine minutes Saturday, bolting to a 20-point halftime lead and leading by as many as 32 in the second half before eventually posting an 85-66 win at Carver Center. The win, combined with a Carthage loss at Illinois Wesleyan, vaulted the Vikings into sole possession of the CCIW lead at 5-1. Coach Grey Giovanine's club improved to 12-3 overall this season. The visiting Pioneers dropped to 8-7 overall and 3-3 in the league.
 
A Tyler Ingebrigtsen basket gave Carroll a 2-0 lead and the Pioneers also led 4-2 and 6-4 before consecutive Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) field goals gave Augustana a lead it would never relinquish.
 
Brett Benning's (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) three-pointer sparked a 13-4 Viking run that pushed the advantage to double digits (24-13) for the first time with 10:16 left in the half. A pair of Jacob Johnston (Erie HS, Cordova, Ill.) free throws at the 4:33 mark gave Augustana a 35-19 lead. Carroll's Charlie Soule answered with a layup, but those would be the Pioneers' last points for more than nine minutes of action. Two Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) layups and a Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) basket sent the hosts to halftime with a 41-21 lead.
 
The Vikings extended their string of consecutive points to 18, scoring the first 12 of the second half as well. Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) had a pair of conventional three-point plays in the spurt, which was capped when Wofford scored to put Augustana up 53-21 with 15:35 to play.
 
Ingebrigtsen ended Carroll's drought with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 14:54 mark and the Pioneers began to carve away at the deficit. The margin was still 30 (67-37) with 8:41 to play before the visitors went on a 22-6 run over the next six minutes. An Ingebrigtsen layup with 2:36 remaining pulled Carroll to within 73-59 and prompted Giovanine, who had begun removing his regulars with six minutes to go, to return them to the floor.
 
Carroll got as close as 77-64 before the Vikings responded with eight straight points. Soule's basket with 29 seconds left accounted for the final.
 
Augustana was equally impressive on both ends. The Vikings hit 28 of 45 (.622) field goal attempts, including five of 12 (.417) from beyond the arc, and 24 of 27 (.889) from the free throw line. They held the Pioneers to .359 (23-64) shooting from the floor and just .217 (5-23) from long range. Carroll did convert 15 of 17 (.882) from the foul line. Giovanine's squad won the battle of the boards 33-29 to help overcome a 19-13 deficit in turnovers.
 
Individually, Johnston led Augustana with 15 points on four-of-five shooting, including two-for-two from deep. Orange and Wofford added 14 points apiece and Ebel 10, to go along with a game-high four steals. Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa), the Vikings' leading scorer on the year, was held to six points, but had game highs of seven rebounds and five assists without committing a turnover in 28 minutes of play. Freshman Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) had six points, five rebounds and the game's only four blocked shots.
 
Kyle Keranen led the Pioneers with 24 points.
 
Augustana will be on the road on Wednesday, January 18, traveling to Elmhurst to face the Bluejays with tipoff at Faganel Hall scheduled for 7:00 p.m.