ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana held off a spirited Alma rally Friday to claim a 74-67 win at Carver Center. The 17th-ranked Vikings improved to 1-1 on the season. The contest was the season opener for the Scots.
 
Freshman Jack McDonald (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) hit a layup with 14:02 remaining to give Coach Grey Giovanine's outfit a 52-37 lead, matching its biggest of the night. However, Alma's Kyle Woodruff answered with a three-pointer and Cole Kleiver added a jumper and a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to eight (52-44) at the 12-minute mark.
 
Augustana twice extended the advantage back to 11 on three-pointers by sophomore Justin Bottorff (Quincy Notre Dame HS, Quincy, Ill.) (57-46) and senior Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield., Ill.) (60-49), but when Zach Sinke hit a fadeaway jumper from the right baseline with 10 minutes left, the margin was under double digits for good.
 
Consecutive Woodruff field goals got the Scots to within a bucket (61-59) with 5:29 left and Alma would cut it to two on three more occasions. Each time, the Vikings answered. First, with a pair of Jarrett Tribble (Homewood-Flossmoor HS, Homewood, Ill.) free throws, then with another Wofford trey and finally with a McDonald layup at the one-minute mark that made it 71-67. McDonald added two free throws with 34 seconds remaining and Wofford spilt a pair with 27 seconds left to account for the final.
 
The score bounced back-and-forth early. There were five lead changes in the first 11 minutes and only once in the first 14 minutes did the margin exceed five points. A short Matt Lark jumper at the 7:10 mark of the first half pulled the Scots to within 25-22, but Tribble scored eight straight points in a 15-3 run that gave Augustana its largest lead of the night at 40-25 with 1:58 left before halftime. Isaiah Williamson's three-pointer eventually cut Alma's deficit to 41-30 at intermission.
 
The Scots cut it to eight twice early in the second half, but the Vikings went on a 7-0 run, capped by McDonald's layup at 14:02 that pushed the margin to 15.
 
Wofford led a balanced Augustana attack with 17 points. Senior Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) and Tribble added 15 each, McDonald a dozen and Bottorff nine. Led by Bottorff's eight rebounds, seven Vikings grabbed at least five boards. Wofford snared seven and Martin and Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove HS, Darien, Ill.) six each. Bottorff also had three steals.
 
Kleiver finished with 21 points and Woodruff 17 for Alma.
 
Augustana shot .377 from the field on 26 of 69. The Vikings hit .353 (6-17) from beyond the arc and .667 (16-24) from the free throw line. Alma hit 25 of 66 (.379) field goal tries and eight of 26 (.308) three-pointers. The Scots were nine of 12 (.750) at the foul line. Giovanine's bunch compiled a 53-38 edge on the boards and committed 14 turnovers to 11 for the visitors.
 
On Saturday, November 16, Augustana will host Calvin (1-0) at 5:00 p.m. at Carver Center. The Knights opened their season Friday with an 89-83 win at Illinois Wesleyan.