ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team found themselves back in the win column on Saturday, defeating the visiting Millikin Big Blue by a score of 68-58 inside the Carver Center.

The two defenses shined to begin Saturday night's contest as neither squad saw double figures through the first eight minutes of action. The Big Blue were the first to 10 points, but were met by a 15-4 scoring run from the Vikings that turned a one-point deficit into a 12-point advantage in favor of Augustana. The margin grew to as many as 13 before the Vikings took a 32-21 lead into halftime. Daniel Carr scored eight of his 17 points in the first half, finishing a perfect 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from behind the arc. Evan Ambrose also provided a spark off the bench for Augie, tallying all seven of his points in the opening 20 minutes.

Millikin notched the first six points of the second half to cut the differential to five, but the advantage for Augustana was quickly pushed back out to double digits and then up to the team's largest lead of the game at 18 just minutes later. The Big Blue slowly trimmed down the deficit and eventually got it within single digits at the 1:26 mark. Chase Larsen countered with a perfect 4-4 showing from the free-throw line down the stretch to thwart the Millikin comeback attempt and secure the 10-point wins for the Vikings. 

Carr was the game's high scorer with his 17 points, followed closely behind by Larsen with 15. Anthony Cooper also added 11 off the bench, connecting on three of his five three-point attempts. As a team, the Vikings hit 44 percent of their field goals and tied a season-best with 10 made threes. Augie held Millikin to just 35 percent from the floor and 10.5 percent (2-19) from behind the arc.

With the win, Augustana improves to 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the CCIW. The team will step back out of conference on Wednesday, December 7 when they visit the Dubuque Spartans. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.