ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was narrowly defeated at home Saturday night, falling to the visiting Carroll Pioneers by a score of 69-68 from inside the Carver Center.

It was a game of catch-up for the Vikings as the Pioneers quickly took control in the first half with a double-digit advantage. Augie only led for around three minutes in the contest, seeing a margin of three at 7-4 turn into a deficit of seven following a quick 10-0 run from Carroll. The Pioneers grew their first-half advantage to as many as 11 at 30-19, but the Vikings closed the final three minutes strong with a 6-0 burst of their own to cut the differential to five at the break. 

Carroll maintained a comfortable multi-possession game for a majority of the second half, seeing the margin hit double figures on multiple occasions. With just under six minutes showing on the clock, the Vikings charged back from a 10-point deficit to cut it to four, but the Pioneers answered with key baskets to push it back out to seven three separate times down the stretch. Trailing 66-59 with 45 seconds remaining, Augustana made things interesting, connecting on two layups in a span of just a few seconds to shrink it to a one-possession game. The Pioneers continued to hit free throws, but the Vikings had one final chance to even things up, just seeing a Luke Johnson three-pointer fall short. Carroll knocked down one of two free throws to make a last-second made three meaningless and escape with the one-point win.

Johnson led Augustana in scoring in the contest, finishing with 17 points to go with four rebounds and four assists. Dan Carr was next in the scoring column with 13, but had a career-high 20 rebounds. Matt Hawkins added 12 off of the bench on 5-8 shooting.

With the loss, the Vikings drop to 9-11 overall and 4-7 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action on Wednesday, February 2 when they host No. 18 Wheaton. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from inside the Carver Center.