ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team narrowly defeated the visiting Illinois College Blueboys on Tuesday night, winning by a score of 64-61 from inside the Carver Center to remain perfect at home so far in 2021-22.
Illinois College scored the game's opening basket and jumped out to an early six-point lead, holding their advantage for the first 13 minutes of action before the Vikings evened things up at 21-21. The Blueboys put together a quick 7-0 run after the game's first tie, followed by an 11-0 spurt from Augustana to take their first lead right before half. Augie held a 32-28 margin at the break.
Luke Johnson scored 12 of his 17 points in the opening 20 minutes and had four steals in the first half.
Johnson started the second half with a three-pointer to stretch the differential to seven for the Vikings, the largest lead at the time for either team. The game remained within a couple of possessions until Augustana stretched it out to eight halfway through the second. From there, the Blueboys responded with a quick 7-1 run and 13-5 outburst overall to eventual knot the score at 54-54.
Facing a momentum swing, the Vikings responded in a big way on a
Matt Hanushewsky basket and foul to go up 57-54. The three-point margin remained the same with 20 seconds showing and a missed Illinois College three led to a
Nate Ortiz free throw with 14 seconds left to push it to a two-possession game. The Blueboys quickly took a miss on the second attempt up the floor and a transition three went through to shrink the deficit back to one at 62-61. Johnson connected on two last-second free throws and Illinois College's full-court heavy barely missed to give Augustana the 64-61 victory.
Joining Johnson in double figures was
Dan Carr as he grabbed his fourth double double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds. The senior hit just four shots, but was 8-12 from the line and 5-6 in the second half alone. Hanushewsky tallied a season-high 10 points in 18 minutes. As a team, the Blueboys out-shot the Vikings 41.7 to 37.3 percent, but Augustana ended the contest with nine more made free throws than the visitors.
With the win, Augie improves to 4-2 overall. The team will continue their non-conference slate on Sunday, November 28 when they go back on the road to take on the UW-Stevens Point Pointers. Tip is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Stevens Point, Wis.
