ROCKFORD, Ill. – Junior Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) had game highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds Saturday to help Augustana survive a spirited second-half rally by

Rockford. The Vikings pulled away late for a 78-64 win over the Regents at the Seaver Center. Coach Grey Giovanine's squad improved to 3-1 on the season, while the hosts fell to 0-3.
 
Brandon Emerick's layup with 26 seconds left in the first half trimmed what was once a 25-point Augustana lead to 40-21 at intermission. As it turned out, it also sparked a 33-13 Rockford run over a span of 13½ minutes.
 
Wofford put back his own miss with 17:50 to play for the first basket of the second half, but the Vikings would tally just a single Joe Kellen (Rockford Lutheran HS, Rockford, Ill.) field goal over the next five minutes. Meanwhile, Tony Diemer scored six of Rockford's 15 points as the Regents pulled to within 44-36 with 12:37 remaining.
 
Another Wofford bucket stemmed the tide briefly, but a Kivontay Shaw three-pointer, two Jeremiah Stewart free throws and a Kevin Diemer layup cut the margin to just three (46-43) at the 10:50 mark. Wofford hit a pair of free throws, but when Shaw answered with another trey, Rockford trailed just 48-46.
 
The margin bounced from three to five until consecutive Kevin Diemer layups—the second coming at the 7:07 mark—cut it to one (53-52), getting the Regents as close as they'd been since the contest was scoreless. However, Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) countered with back-to-back three-pointers in the next 40 seconds and it wouldn't be a one-possession game again.
 
A Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) putback with 1:41 to play pushed lead back to double digits (71-60) for good. Benning had a dunk in transition and Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) finished off the Vikings' scoring by hitting five of six free throws in the final minute.
 
Wofford (13), Benning (nine) and Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) (seven) combined for 29 first-half points as Augustana built its 19-point halftime lead. Those three combined to shoot 10 of 17 from the floor, but the rest of Giovanine's crew managed just four field goals in 21 attempts. The Vikings took their biggest lead at 36-11 on two Ebel free throws with 4:02 left in the half.
 
Benning complimented Wofford's big day with 19 points and six rebounds and Ebel added 13 points and five boards. Augustana shot just .353 (24-68) from the field, including .333 (10-30) in the second half. The Vikings hit seven of 23 (.304) three-point attempts, but went 23 of 28 (.821) from the foul line. They won the battle of the boards 54-39 and each team turned it over 18 times.
 
Tony Diemer led Rockford with 15 points and 10 rebounds—one more of each than his brother Kevin. Emerick added 11 points, five assists and four steals. The Regents shot .367 (22-60) from the floor, .250 (4-16) from beyond the arc and hurt themselves with a 16-of-29 (.552) performance at the free throw line.
 
Giovanine's bunch will finally play its 2018-19 home opener on Wednesday, November 28 when 12th-ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point visits Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.