ELMHURST, Ill. – Augustana shot .708 from the field in the first half and made 16 of 17 second-half free throws Wednesday to survive an Elmhurst parade to the charity stripe and post a 92-79 win at Faganel

Hall. The second-ranked Vikings won their 12th in a row to move to 14-1 overall and 6-0 atop the CCIW. The Bluejays, in second place coming in, dropped to 9-6 on the year and 4-2 in the conference.  

Senior Brett Benning (Dakota HS, Davis, Ill.) started the night's scoring with a three-pointer, one of Augustana's nine in the first half. The Vikings pushed their advantage to six on three occasions in the early going, but Jake Rhode scored four points and Lavon Thomas three in a 7-0 Elmhurst run that gave the hosts their first lead, 22-21 with 9:27 remaining in the first half.
 
A Rhode free throw at the 5:37 mark put the Bluejays on top 32-31, but Coach Grey Giovanine's outfit answered with 12 straight points and wouldn't trail again. The margin reached 11 (43-32) on a Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) three-point play with 2:19 left. Elmhurst eventually cut it to five (45-40), but Joe Kellen (Rockford Lutheran HS, Rockford, Ill.) beat the halftime buzzer with a trey that sent Augustana to the locker room with a 48-40 edge.
 
Benning, Wofford and Nolan Ebel (Regis Jesuit HS, Denver, Colo.) each scored 10 and Chrishawn Orange (Jacobs HS, Algonquin, Ill.) eight in the opening 20 minutes, as the Vikings hit 17 of 24 from the floor, including nine of 12 (.750) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays hit 10 of 27 (.370) from the field, but stayed close with a 15-of-18 performance at the foul line.
 
Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) drained a pair of three-pointers as the visitors opened the second stanza with a 14-1 run to push their lead to 62-41 with 15:23 to play. It was 6½ minutes before Rhode tallied Elmhurst's first field goal of the half, but he added 10 points in a 19-4 run that cut the Bluejays' deficit to six (68-62) with 6:18 left.
 
Benning responded with a pair of three-pointers less than a minute apart to extend the lead back to double digits (74-64). Elmhurst would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way, as Augustana hit 14 of 15 free throws in the final four minutes.
 
Five Vikings scored in double figures. Benning and Ebel tallied 18 each. Orange and Wofford had 17 apiece and Simon dropped in 11 off the bench. Ebel grabbed a team-high six rebounds and Orange (six) and Simon (five) combined for 11 assists without committing a turnover. Rhode went 13-of-18 from the foul line and had game highs of 34 points and seven boards for the Bluejays.
 
Augustana finished the night 29 of 50 (.580) from the field, 13 of 25 (.520) from three-point range and 21 of 24 (.875) from the free throw line. The Vikings limited Elmhurst to .357 (20-56) shooting from the floor and .258 (8-31) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays converted 31 of 39 (.795) free throws, won the battle of the boards 32-29 and turned it over just 10 times to 15 for their guests.
 
Augustana will be going for its 13th straight win and 500th all-time at Carver Center when Carthage visits on Saturday, January 12. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.