ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team will look to make it two wins over the Wheaton Thunder this season when they welcome in the No. 15 ranked team in the nation on Wednesday, February 2 from inside the Carver Center.
The Vikings are coming off of a narrow defeat at home to the Carroll Pioneers this past Saturday, falling by a score of 69-68. Augie trailed most of the game in that one, but made it interesting late as they forced some turnovers down the stretch to cut the deficit to a one-possession game. The Pioneers held off the late rally with key free throws, pushing it to four points before a last-second three cut it to one. Augustana ran out of time and Carroll held on to the close victory.
Luke 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.
Wheaton enters Wednesday up three spots in the latest d3hoops top 25 poll after posting a 3-0 record last week. The No. 15 ranked Thunder sit at 16-4 overall and are 8-3 in conference play. Two of their wins last week came by a combined five points as they defeated Elmhurst by a point and North Central by four. In their most recent outing against the Cardinals of North Central, the Thunder hit two free throws under five seconds to hold off a late rally. Nyameye Adom, the reigning CCIW player of the week, scored 26 in the contest.
This will be the second meeting of the season for these two teams, with Augie winning the first in Wheaton by a score of 79-73. Five different Vikings scored in double figures in the game, led by
Justin Bottorff with 16. Augustana also collectively held Adom to his second-lowest point total of the season at 14. The win for the Vikings broke a two-game losing skid against the Thunder. Each team has won three times in their previous six meetings.
Tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. All planning to attend are to adhere to the
Augustana College spectator policy.
Game coverage vs. Wheaton
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