Box Score WHEATON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team secured a top-ten win on the road Wednesday night, defeating the No. 10 ranked Wheaton Thunder by a score of 79-73 from inside King Arena. 

"I couldn't be more proud of everyone associated with our program," said head coach Tom Jessee following the game.

The Vikings played an evenly-matched half with the 10th-ranked Thunder to start, almost taking a lead into intermission before a buzzer-beating three from the Thunder gave them the 36-34 advantage. Wheaton saw a lead grow to as many as eight in the first half, but a 13-3 run over the course of three minutes brought Augie back into the game. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the opening half, resulting in the two-point lead for the home team. Justin Bottorff scored 11 of his season-high 16 points through the first 20 minutes of action.

Through the first six-plus minutes of the second half, neither team mustered a lead of more than three points until the Thunder pushed the margin to six on two different occasions leading up to the mid-way point. The Vikings battled back to tie the game, followed by a trading of baskets that found a deadlocked score of 61-61 with five minutes to play. From there, Augustana used a quick 8-1 run, fueled by three-pointers from Luke Johnson and Nicolas Giliberto to stretch the game to their largest lead of seven at 69-62. The Thunder converted on three consecutive made threes down the stretch to eventually bring the game to 75-73 with just 18 seconds showing on the clock, but two Johnson free throws made it a two-possession game, setting up one final stop on defense and a Dan Carr exclamation dunk with seconds left to seal the road victory.

"Our staff put together an unbelievable game plan and our players absolutely sunk their teeth into it and executed it beautifully," Jessee added.

Tyler Knuth joined Bottorff in double figures with 13 points off the bench on 50 percent shooting. Carr and Johnson also added 12 points apiece, with Carr hauling in 16 rebounds. Matt Hanushewsky added 10 points and five assists. As a team, the Vikings shot 48.5 percent from the floor and were 6-13 from behind the arc. They held Wheaton to just 43 percent shooting and an 11-30 mark from downtown.

With the win, Augustana improves to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the CCIW. The team will remain on the road for their next contest, another battle with a top ten foe, as they take on the Illinois Wesleyan Titans on Saturday, January 15. Tip is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Bloomington, Ill.