STEVENS POINT, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was defeated in a non-conference road battle on Sunday in their final contest before beginning conference play next week, falling to the UW-Stevens Point Pointers by a score of 79-62.

Augustana never led in the game and Stevens Point quickly doubled up the Vikings in the opening minutes. With the margin sitting at just three at 17-14, the Pointers rattled off nine unanswered points to push their lead to double figures, eventually ending their scoring run at 17-2. The Vikings battled first-half foul trouble and Stevens Point hit 52 percent of their shots to lead 40-26 at halftime.

The second half lead grew to as many as 21 points on two different occasions. Augustana shrunk the margin to 10 with just under four minutes to go, but that proved to be the closest they got. Stevens Point scored the final eight points of the game to end it with a final of 79-61. The Pointers continued their efficient shooting ways in the second half, bettering their first half efforts to finish the contest with a mark of 55.6 percent. Augustana also shot better in the final 20 minutes, but ended the afternoon hitting just 42.4 percent of their shots.

"Credit to Stevens Point," said head coach Tom Jessee. "We got beat by a much more physical and disciplined team today."

Four Vikings reached double figures in scoring, led by Luke Johnson with 12. Dan Carr secured his fifth double double of the season, tallying 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Nate Ortiz also added 11 points. Matt Hanushewsky contributed 10 points and five assists.

With the loss, Augustana drops to 4-3 overall. The team will begin conference play in their next outing as they visit Millikin on Saturday, December 4th. Tip is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Decatur, Ill.