Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. – Augustana used an early 12-0 run to jump in front of North Park Friday night and rolled to an 86-70 win in the CCIW Tournament semifinals at Tarble Arena. The win avenged a pair of losses to NPU during the regular season, including an overtime setback in Chicago last Saturday. Coach Grey Giovanine's club improved to 19-7 on the year and advanced to the Saturday, February 25 CCIW Tournament championship game against fourth-seeded North Central. The conference's automatic NCAA Division III Tournament bid will be on the line.
 
CCIW Most Outstanding Player Jordan Robinson buried a three-pointer for the game's first points and second-seeded North Park led 5-2 after a Juwan Henry layup at the 17:47 mark of the first half. However, senior Jacob Johnston (Erie HS, Cordova, Ill.) hit from beyond the arc to tie it and spark a 12-0 Viking run that saw the tournament's third seed go up 14-5. Johnston and sophomore Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) each scored five in the spurt.
 
Augustana built on the lead, with a Johnston put-back pushing the margin to double digits (20-10) for the first time with 10:12 left in the half.
 
A Henry free throw and two by Robinson drew NPU to within seven, but the Vikings responded with seven straight points to go up 27-13. North Park got as close as 31-24 on two Henry free throws at the 3:47 mark, but layups by Johnston and junior Brandon Schattner (Wilmot Union HS, Twin Lakes, Wis.) extended the margin back to double digits for good. Another Johnston bucket and one by senior Michael Hoekstra (Bishop McNamara HS, Saint Anne, Ill.) completed an 8-0 Augustana run to finish the half, resulting in a 39-24 lead at intermission.
 
North Park would cut the deficit to 13 on five occasions in the first seven minutes of the second half, but could never get any closer.
 
Hoekstra scored twice in another 8-0 Viking run that sophomore Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) capped with a put-back that extended the lead to 63-42. The margin reached 23 on two occasions. First (67-44), on a layup by freshman Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) and again (72-49) on a conventional three-point play by Ebel with seven minutes left.
 
North Park Coach Tom Slyder emptied his bench at the 2:20 mark and Giovanine at just inside two minutes.
 
Ebel led the Vikings with 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Both he and Johnston, who finished with 19 points, hit eight of 11 field goal attempts. Sophomore Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) added 12 points and five rebounds. Hoekstra (eight points, five rebounds) and Simon (eight points, two assists, two blocks, two steals), in particular, provided big sparks off the Augustana bench. Henry scored a game-high 24 for NPU and Robinson added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with 5:41 to play.
 
Augustana shot .574 from the floor on 35 of 61. The Vikings hit just three of 11 (.273) from beyond the arc and 13 of 22 (.591) free throw attempts, but controlled the boards 40-32, blocked 11 shots and were even in turnovers (12 each) against the league's top team in turnover margin. North Park was limited to .381 (24 -63) shooting from the field, although Slyder's club hit nine of 24 (.375) three pointers and 13 of 18 (.722) from the foul line.