WAUKESHA, Wis.— Augustana weathered a furious rally by Carroll Saturday, getting game highs of 26 points and nine rebounds from Pierson Wofford (Springfield Lutheran HS, Springfield, Ill.) to hold off the Pioneers 69-65 at Van Male Field House. The victory lifted Coach Grey Giovanine's outfit to 12-6 on the season and 6-3 in the CCIW, while Carroll dropped to 9-9 overall and 2-7 in the conference.
 
A Wofford three-pointer with 17:13 to play gave Augustana a 44-26 advantage, its largest of the game. After a Pioneer timeout, Nick Penny converted a conventional three-point play that would ignite a 20-5 spurt over the next six minutes. Justin Gruber hit Carroll's fifth three-pointer of the run with 11 minutes remaining to pull his team within a point (49-48).
 
Micah Martin (Iowa City HS, Iowa City, Iowa) hit a pair of free throws and blocked a shot that led to a Jack Jelen (Bay HS, Bay Village, Ohio) transition bucket that put the guests up 53-48, but six straight Pioneer points gave them their first lead (54-53) since midway through the first half. Two Daniel Carr (Regis Jesuit HS Highlands Ranch, Colo.) free throws regained the lead for the Vikings and they wouldn't trail again.
 
Ryan Clarey's three-pointer with 2:16 remaining tied it at 62, but Augustana answered with a Martin putback and a Wofford three to make it 67-62 with less than a minute to play. Penny's conventional three-point play with 43 seconds left drew Carroll within a bucket (67-65) and fouled Martin out of the contest. The Vikings ran the clock down before Jelen's runner in the lane rimmed out. Penney grabbed the rebound the Pioneers called timeout with 7.5 seconds on the clock.
 
Coming out of the break, Clarey drove the lane but his shot rolled off the rim, with Wofford wrestling away the rebound. The Augustana senior was fouled with 0.1 seconds left and coolly dropped in both free throws to account for the final.
 
A Matt Hanushewsky (Hersey HS, Arlington Heights, Ill.) three-pointer gave the Vikings an early 12-4 lead, but Carroll came back to tie it at 16-all on a Blake Williams layup and take a 19-16 lead on a trey by Clarey. Jacob Pauley (Geneseo HS, Geneseo, Ill.) converted a Jelen assist into a three-pointer with 9:43 left in the first half for a 21-19 Augustana lead and the visitors would maintain the advantage for the next 22 minutes.
 
Wofford had four points and Jelen and Austin Elledge (Highland HS, Highland, Ill.) each hit a three-pointer, as the Vikings scored the final 10 points of the half to lead 37-24 at intermission.
 
Wofford converted eight of 12 shots from the floor, including four of five three-point tries. He added six free throws in as many attempts and had three assists in addition to his nine boards. Martin contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Elledge added nine points and Jelen finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.
 
Penny led five Pioneers in double figures with 12 points. Clarey dished out a game-best seven assists.
 
Augustana shot .478 (22-46) from the field, .563 (9-16) from beyond the arc and .800 (16-20) at the foul line. Carroll finished 25 of 56 (.446) from the floor and eight of 25 (.320) from deep, but shot .500 (15-30) and .462 (6-13), respectively, in the second half. The Pioneers shot .636 (7-11) for the game from the free throw line. The Vikings controlled the boards 37-19, but committed 17 turnovers to just a half-dozen for the hosts.
 
On Wednesday, January 29, Giovanine's crew welcomes fourth-ranked Elmhurst to Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip.