NORMAL, Ill. – Augustana took Illinois State to the wire on Saturday, November 3 before falling 82-74 at Redbird Arena in the final exhibition game of the 2018-19 campaign before the regular season starts. The Vikings actually led for over eight minutes in this game against the Redbirds, who were picked to finish second in the NCAA Division I Missouri Valley Conference.
 
Augustana took its first lead in the second minute of play when senior Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) nailed a three point field goal and the Vikings led 5-2 with 18:35 to play. At one point in the first half the Augustana lead was six points after a three point field goal from Ebel with 11:08 to play.
 
Illinois State took the lead for good with 9:03 left in the first half on a three point field goal from William Tinsley that made it 24-22. The Redbirds went on a 20-6 run over the final 9:03 of the opening stanza and led 41-28 at intermission.
 
In the second half the Illinois State lead grew as big as 18 (48-30) with 17:40 to play but the Vikings kept chipping away. With 3:18 left in the game the Redbirds held a double-digit lead at 69-57 after Zach Copeland hit a free throw.
 
A tip-in by junior Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) made it 69-59 with 3:05 remaining and that sparked a 10-3 run by the visitors that cut the lead to five points (72-67) after Ebel hit a three pointer with 1:48 to play.
 
Illinois State bumped the lead to eight (77-69) with 1:09 on a dunk by Phil Fayne but senior Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) nailed a three pointer with :57 left to make it 77-72. After one free throw by ISU's Milik Yarbrough, Ebel nailed a pair of free throws to cut the margin to 78-74 with :27 left. The Redbirds scored the final four points to account for the final margin.
 
Ebel led the Vikings with 25 points as he hit five three pointers and was eight of nine from the free throw line. Orange had 19 points to join him in double figures. Junior Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) led the team in rebounding with five.
 
The Vikings were outrebounded 42-32 for the game but only turned the ball over 12 times against the Redbird pressure. Fayne led ISU in scoring with 23 points while William Tinsley had a game high 11 rebounds.
 
Augustana will open the 2018-19 regular season on Friday, November 16 at Alma.