Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana held Millikin to .304 shooting from the field and forced 13 Big Blue turnovers in the second half Saturday, breaking open a tight game to win 66-49 at Carver Center. The second-ranked Vikings improved to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the CCIW, while Millikin fell to 8-6 on the season and 1-4 in the league.
 
Consecutive Juwan Stewart baskets gave the Big Blue a 31-30 lead with 19:09 to play, but a Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) bucket sparked an 11-0 run that put Augustana up 41-31. Orange added a three-pointer in the spurt and the Vikings forced four turnovers.
 
A Zach Fisher three-pointer pulled the visitors to within seven (41-34) at the 13:47 mark, but that's as close as they would get. Senior Dylan Sortillo (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) and junior Joe Kellen (Rockford Lutheran HS, Rockford, Ill.) each scored three points in an 8-0 Viking run that extended the lead to 55-39 with 6:33 remaining. Two Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) steals and one by freshman Carson Frakes (Rockridge HS, Illinois City, Ill.) fueled things defensively.
 
A Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) three-pointer with 4:52 to play gave the hosts their biggest lead of the night at 61-43 before Millikin scored six straight to pull within 12 at the two-minute mark. However, Kellen hit three free throws and freshman Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) a pair to account for the final.
 
The first half was nip-and-tuck. Sortillo scored eight points in the first three and a half minutes on a field goal and a pair of the pointers, but a Stewart basket just inside the 14-minute mark gave the Big Blue its biggest lead at 13-9. Augustana came back to lead by six on three occasions. The first (25-19) was when Martin scored off a lob from Ebel and the last (28-22) was on an Orange bucket 1:58 before halftime.
 
Elijah Henry scored for Millikin with 1:04 left in the period and Zach Fisher's three-pointer just before the buzzer pulled the Big Blue to within 28-27 at intermission.
 
The Vikings finished the night 22 of 47 (.468) from the field and nine of 18 (.500) from three-point range, but struggled to a 13-of-25 (.520) performance from the foul line. They limited Millikin to just .388 shooting on 19 of 49 field goals and just seven of 23 (.304) after halftime. The Big Blue were three of 13 (.231) from beyond the arc and eight of 12 (.667) from the free throw line. Augustana was outrebounded 36-26, but forced 23 turnovers while committing 14, including just four in the second half and one in the final 13 minutes.
 
Sortillo drilled all five of his three-point attempts on his way to a game-high 19 points. He also shared the team rebounding lead with sophomore Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.). Each grabbed four. Ebel added 13 points and Orange 10, while Kellen equaled a career high with seven. Ebel led the way with four assists, while Sortillo and Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) dished out three apiece. Martin and Ebel each had two of the Vikings' seven steals.
 
Augustana will play the second of three straight home games on Wednesday, January 10th when CCIW co-leader Wheaton (10-3, 4-1) visits Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.