Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana fired off the first 16 points of the game Friday and cruised to an 80-69 win over Calvin at Carver Center. Junior Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) had game highs of 22 points and nine rebounds as the second-ranked Vikings improved to 2-0 on the young season. The contest was the season opener for the visiting Knights.
 
Senior Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) had a pair of three-pointers and Wofford and classmate Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) one each as Augustana jumped out to a 16-0 lead five and a half minutes in. Jason Walter's 17-foot jumper got Calvin on the board at the 14:12 mark of the first half.
 
Another Sortillo trey gave the Vikings their biggest lead of the half at 19-2 and a Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) field goal less than a minute later equaled that 17-point margin at 21-4.
 
The Knights began to whittle at the deficit however and when Carlos Amoros-Gutierrez scored 1:49 before halftime it was under double digits (39-30) for the first time in nearly 14 minutes. A Tom Morrison layup with 31 seconds left in the half pulled Calvin to within 41-33, but Ebel drained a long three from the right wing at the halftime buzzer to send his team to the locker room with a 44-33 lead.
 
The teams traded blows in the second half as the margin bounced between 11 and 15 points for the first eight and a half minutes. A Wofford hoop and a Sortillo 18-footer gave Augustana its biggest lead of the night at 64-46 with 10:49 to play.
 
The Vikings still led by 18 with 7:30 left, but the Knights went on a 12-3 run, capped by an Austin Bykerk dunk at the 4:14 mark that got his team to within 73-64. Sophomore Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) answered with a layup that pushed the margin back to double digits, where it stayed.
 
In addition to Wofford's big night, Orange added 18 points and three steals. Sortillo scored 15 and grabbed five rebounds and Ebel added 10 points and four assists. Ferguson had six points and five boards off the bench.
 
Luke Morrison led Calvin with 18 points and Amoros-Gutierrez chipped in a dozen. Bykerk had a team-high seven rebounds and Tony Canonie a game-high eight assists.
 
Augustana shot .450 from the field on 27 of 60, hit six of 15 (.400) from beyond the arc and 20 of 28 (.714) from the foul line. The Knights finished 26 of 55 (.473) from the floor, five of 20 (.250) from long range and 12 of 16 (.750) at the foul line. Calvin won the battle of the boards 36-33, but committed 17 turnovers to just eight for the Vikings.
 
Coach Grey Giovanine's squad is back in action on Saturday, November 18, hosting Alma at Carver Center beginning at 7:00 p.m.