ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Augustana went to overtime for the third time in as many CCIW home games on Wednesday and came away with positive results, downing Wheaton 79-73 at Carver Center. Seniors Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.), Austin Elledge (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) and Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) combined for 62 of the Vikings' points. Both teams are now 10-5 on the season and 4-2 in the conference.
 
The Vikings trailed 73-72 as the clock approached one minute remaining in overtime, but Wofford muscled his way into the lane and scored to put the hosts back on top with 1:06 left. After a Thunder timeout, Tyson Cruickshank's three-point attempt was off the mark, with Wofford grabbing the rebound.
 
With a 12-second difference between the shot and game clocks, Augustana couldn't hold it and with the shot clock winding down, Wofford found Elledge deep on the left wing. Elledge's jumper from well beyond the arc hit nothing but the bottom of the net to make it 77-73 with 14 seconds to play. Lucas Simon (Notre Dame HS, Chicago, Ill.) got a hand on Luke Anthony's trey attempt in the final seconds and Elledge closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws after being fouled.
 
The defenses dominated the first half, as both teams struggled to make a shot from anywhere. Wheaton shot .308 from the floor and hit just one of eight three-point tries. The Vikings finished the half at .346 from the field and two of nine from long range.
 
Two Wofford free throws 5:31 before halftime put Augustana up 20-19 and the Vikings would maintain the lead for the rest of the half, although the margin never exceeded three points. An Elledge basket at 1:02 sent Coach Grey Giovanine's bunch to the locker room with a 31-28 advantage.
 
Augustana struck quickly to open the second half getting an Elledge three-pointer in transition and a Wofford fastbreak layup to go up 36-28. After a Cade Alioth bucket cut the Thunder deficit to six, Wofford tallied a conventional three-point play to give the Vikings the largest lead of the night at 39-30.
 
Behind Cruickshank, Alioth and Nayeme Adom, Wheaton gradually chipped away and eventually took a 59-58 lead on two Cruickshank charity tosses with 3:39 left in regulation. There were three more ties and three more lead changes the rest of regulation, but it was never more than a one possession game. Adom's jumper with 33 seconds left tied it at 66-all and a Wofford trey attempt just before the final buzzer bounced off the back of the rim.
 
It was the visitors who drew first blood in overtime, but Martin scored to tie it at 68-all and the lead then changed hands four times before Wofford's bucket at 1:06 put Augustana up for good.
 
Wofford finished with a career-high 27 points and grabbed a team-best 11 boards. Despite picking up his fourth foul with 18½ minutes left in regulation, Martin never fouled out and delivered a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Elledge scored 20.
 
Adom led the Thunder with 23 points. Cruickshank finished with a line of 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and five steals and Alioth added 16 points.
 
The Vikings shot .419 (26-62) from the field, .250 (4-16) from three-point range and .767 (23-30) from the free throw line. Wheaton finished 24 of 62 (.387) from the floor and 22 of 33 (.667) from the foul line. The Thunder, who came into the game fourth in the nation in three-point shooting, converted just three of 20 (.150) from beyond the arc. Augustana won the rebound battle by a 45-37 margin and committed 15 turnovers to 11 for Wheaton.
 
On Saturday, January 18, Giovanine's crew travels to Chicago, Illinois to face North Park with tipoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m.