ST. LOUIS, MO. – Jack Nolan scored a game-high 28 points and Washington University tallied 19 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds to defeat Augustana 73-70 Sunday at the WU Field House. The 17th-ranked Vikings dropped to 4-2 on the season, while the 15th-rated Bears improved to 6-1.
 
The lead see-sawed back-and-forth through the first 10 minutes. A Donovan Ferguson (Downers Grove South HS, Darien, Ill.) tip dunk with 10:45 left in the first half gave Augustana a 17-16 advantage and marked the sixth lead change (along with five ties) to that point.
 
A Hank Hunter conventional three-point play, another Hunter bucket and a three-pointer by Nolan put Washington up 24-17, as the Vikings suffered a nearly five-minute scoring drought. Austin Elledge's (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) trey at the 5:49 mark got the lid off for Augustana, but a Justin Hardy three-pointer 1:31 before halftime eventually gave the hosts their biggest lead of the afternoon at 37-26.
 
Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) responded with a three-pointer and after Bear turnover, Jack McDonald (Geneva HS, Geneva, Ill.) grabbed the rebound of his own blocked shot and followed it in to pull the Vikings to within 37-31 at intermission.
 
The Bears kept their guests at arm's length through the first 10 minutes of the second half. A three-pointer by Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) with 15:30 to play got Augustana within a bucket (40-38), but the Vikings wouldn't grab the lead until Jacob Pauley's (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) trey at the 9:05 mark capped an 8-0 run and put his team up 57-56.
 
Coach Grey Giovanine's club led until Hardy's bucket at 5:14 briefly put Wash U back on top 62-61, but Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) fired a beautiful pass to a cutting Pauley, whose layup put the visitors back in front 63-62. Two Wofford free throws with 4:14 to play made it 65-62 Augustana.
 
Hunter answered with consecutive putbacks, however, to give the Bears the lead for good. Trailing 66-65 with 1:26 left, the Vikings were whistled for a technical foul following a scramble for a loose ball in front of the Washington bench. Nolan converted both free throws and added a jumper on the ensuing inbounds play to give the Bears a 70-65 advantage.
 
Wofford hit a three-pointer just inside a minute to get Augustana within two (70-68), but a Matt Nester trey with 38 seconds left pushed the margin to 73-68. Jelen scored with 24 seconds left and Wash U missed the front end of a one-and-one 10 seconds later, but McDonald's three-point attempt just before the buzzer came up well short.
 
Another excellent shooting game wasn't enough for the Vikings to overcome deficits of 10 rebounds and five turnovers. Augustana shot .583 (28-48) from the field, .474 (9-19) from three-point range and .714 (5-7) from the foul line compared to respective marks of .444 (28-63), .320 (8-25) and .750 (9-12) for the Bears. Washington controlled the boards by a 34-24 margin and grabbed more than half of its own misses. The Bears committed just two turnovers in the second half, finishing with 11 for the game, compared to the Vikings' 16.
 
Wofford led Augustana with 18 points. Elledge and Pauley came off the bench for 14 and 11, respectively. That trio combined to shoot 17 of 24 from the field. Ferguson had team highs of seven rebounds and three blocked shots. McDonald dished out six assists against just one turnover and Jelen had four helpers without a miscue.
 
Hardy added 20 points and Hunter 14 to Nolan's 28. Jonathan Arenas came off the Washington bench for a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Augustana begins CCIW play on Saturday, December 7 against Carroll. The Vikings host the Pioneers at Carver Center with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.