Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. – Augustana took the lead with 14:30 to play at Carthage Saturday and slowly pulled away, eventually posting a 70-61 win over the Red Men at Tarble Arena. The Vikings improved to 6-1 on the season and 2-0 in the CCIW, while the hosts dropped to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the league.
 
Carthage led 30-26 after a tight first half that saw five ties and ten lead changes. When Brad Perry split a pair of free throws with 18:14 to play, the Red Men had their biggest lead of the night at 34-28. Senior Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) answered with a three-pointer from the left corner and after four straight defensive stops, junior Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) scored to pull Augustana to within 34-33. After another stop, junior Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) hit two free throws to complete a 7-0 run that gave the Vikings their first lead (35-34) in almost seven minutes of play.
 
Perry spit two more charity tosses to achieve one final tie with 14:19 to play, but a Sortillo jumper at the 13:55 mark gave the visitors the lead for good.
 
Senior A.J. Dollmeyer (Polo HS, Polo, Ill.) parlayed a bounce pass from junior Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) into a layup that gave Augustana a 47-42 advantage with 9:45 to play. That matched the team's biggest lead of the game to that point.
 
After the advantage reached seven (55-48) on a pair of Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) free throws, Carthage's Jordan Thomas hit a three-pointer and a layup to trim the margin to 55-53 at the 3:39 mark. The Vikings responded with a 6-0 run, though, including two free throws each by Benning and Orange.
 
The Red Men would make one final push, closing to within 63-59 on two Thomas free throws with 53 seconds to play. However, Sortillo found Benning behind the Carthage press for a layup and Orange hit three of four free throws in the final 32 seconds to push the margin to nine (68-59). A Thomas layup and two Ebel free throws closed out the scoring.
 
Perry paced the Red Men with nine first-half points. Carthage's largest lead of the period was four points on three occasions, including the halftime margin. Ebel had a three-pointer and a layup in a 7-0 Augustana run that gave the Vikings their biggest lead of the half at 13-8.
 
Augustana finished the night 24 of 54 (.444) from the field. They hit just two of nine (.222) three-point attempts but were 20 of 23 (.870) from the foul line, including 17 of 18 in the second half. The Vikings held the Red Men to .396 shooting on 21 of 53 from the field and just four of 19 (.211) from long range. Carthage hit just 15 of 26 (.577) from the free throw line. Augustana outrebounded its hosts 36-32 and committed 14 turnovers, while forcing 16.
 
Orange scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Sortillo had 11 of his 13 in the second stanza as well. Ebel scored 12 and Dollmeyer 10—eight of which came after halftime. Dollmeyer and Benning shared the rebounding lead with six apiece and Ebel dished out three assists. Thomas scored a game-high 19 for Carthage.
 
Coach Grey Giovanine's bunch is back at Carver Center on Wednesday, December 13, hosting Rockford in a non-conference matchup scheduled to tip at 7:00 p.m.