ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit Wednesday to pull out a 78-73 win over Elmhurst at Carver Center. The second-ranked Vikings improved to 18-1 on the season and 10-0 in the CCIW, while the Bluejays dropped to 9-9 overall and 4-5 in the league.

 

With 11:33 to play Jake Rhode hit a three-pointer that gave Elmhurst a 52-42 advantage. The Bluejays still led by eight (61-53) after another Rhode trey at the 7:21 mark. However, Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) answered with one of his own and a Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) block led to a pair of Austin Elledge (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) free throws that trimmed the deficit to 61-58 with 6:37 left.
 
After the teams swapped three empty trips, Ebel hit another triple to tie the contest and a Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) steal led to a Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) layup that gave the Vikings their first lead since the seven-minute mark of the first half.
 
As they had all night, the visitors answered, getting two Jay Militello free throws and a Jeremy Ireland three-pointer to go back up by three. They still led by three after Rhode kissed a left-handed layup in high off the glass at the 1:26 mark, but Ebel drilled another three-pointer with 53 seconds left to tie it at 70-all.
 
After Bluejay Nick Perry and Orange traded baskets, Rhode was fouled with 15.9 seconds left. He split his free throw tries and then was whistled for fouling Orange at the other end with five seconds left. The Viking senior hit nothing but net with both freebies to give his team a 74-73 advantage.
 
With Augustana denying Rhode the ball, Derek Dotlich went the length of the floor, but ran over Wofford and was called for the charge with less than a second on the clock. The Elmhurst bench was assessed two technicals for disputing the call and Ebel drilled all four free throws to account for the final.
 
There were five lead changes and two ties in the early going before Rhode's three-pointer at 6:39 of the first half gave the Bluejays a 20-19 advantage. Another Rhode trey, one of his six on the night, capped a 22-7 Elmhurst run and put the visitors up 37-26 with under a minute to play in the half. However, the Vikings got a pair of Roman Youngblut (Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) free throws and two from Elledge with 0.3 seconds on the clock to cut their halftime deficit to 37-30.
 
The Bluejays maintained a lead of at least five points through the first 13 minutes of the second half. An Ireland putback with 17:11 to play gave them their largest advantage of the night at 46-34.
 
Ebel finished the night with 28 points and three assists with no turnovers. Orange scored 13 to move past Mark Brooks into 10th place on Augustana's career scoring list with 1,340 points. He also dished out six assists, as did Wofford, who scored 10. Ferguson and Jelen led the Vikings on the boards with five rebounds each. Rhode finished with a game-high 33 points and Ireland added 16.
 
Augustana shot .407 from the field on 24 of 59 and hit nine of 27 (.333) three-point tries. The Vikings were 21 of 29 (.724) at the foul line. Elmhurst converted 23 of 48 (.479) from the floor, including 11 of 25 (.440) from behind the arc, and 16 of 19 (.842) from the free throw line. The Bluejays had a 34-31 edge on the boards, but committed 17 turnovers to just seven for Augustana.
 
Coach Grey Giovanine's club goes back on the road Saturday, January 26 to face Carroll in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Tipoff at Van Male Fieldhouse is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.