ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was defeated in the regular-season finale on Saturday, falling to the visiting No. 6 ranked Illinois Wesleyan Titans by a score of 70-64 from inside the Carver Center.
It was a slow start offensively for both teams, with Augustana the first to reach ten points after seven minutes of physical play. The Titans put together an early 7-0 run to turn the 10-6 deficit into a three-point advantage, but the two teams continued to trade baskets until the Vikings broke a 17-17 tie with back-to-back threes from
Matt Hawkins and
Luke Johnson to give them the half's biggest margin of six points. Illinois Wesleyan responded with an 8-0 spurt to regain the lead, eventually taking a 30-27 lead into halftime.
Tyler Knuth led the first-half efforts with seven of his nine points through 20 minutes of action.
Johnson brought the Vikings back to even with the first made shot of the second half, connecting on a three to bring the score to 30 points apiece. The Titans countered with another scoring run, this time 9-0, to cushion the margin to nine and eventually stretch it to their largest of 10 with just over 14 minutes remaining. From there, two more made threes from Johnson and a jumper from
Nicolas Giliberto cut the differential to two. The game of runs continued as Illinois Wesleyan constructed another and kept a safe distance the rest of the way. The Vikings managed to get within one possession on two different occasions down the stretch, but were unable to get it under three points. The Titans hit key free throws in the closing minutes and held on for the six-point victory.
"I thought our team really competed tonight," said head coach
Tom Jessee. "We shot the ball well, but did not handle it well enough. I loved the way we fought."
Augie posted a higher shooting percentage (45%) than the Titans (43%), but saw eight fewer attempts as they were -8 in the in the turnover category. Johnson scored 11 of his game-high 16 points in the second half to spearhead the offensive attack for the Vikings.
Dan Carr notched another double double, his 17th of the season, tallying 10 points and 19 rebounds.
The Vikings end the regular season with an 11-14 record overall and 6-10 mark in the CCIW. The team has earned the No. 6 seed in the upcoming conference tournament and will face No. 3 seed and No. 15 ranked Elmhurst on Tuesday, February 22. Start time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m from Elmhurst, Ill.
