ELMHURST, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was defeated by the No. 20 Elmhurst Bluejays on Wednesday, falling on the road by a score of 99-72.
The Vikings hung with the 20th-ranked Bluejays for the entirety of the first half, countering each time the home team stretched their lead to multiple possessions. Elmhurst led by six on two different occasion in the first ten minutes before Augie grabbed their first and only lead at 19-18. The Bluejays answered and secured their lead back, seeing it grow to as many as ten with under a minute remaining. A last-second four-point play from
Matt Hawkins brought the margin to six and Elmhurst held a 50-44 advantage at the break. Four different Augie players had at least eight points in the opening half, led by Hawkins' 13. The 13 points for Hawkins would hold to be the team-high for the Vikings in the contest.
It was a strong start to the second half for Augustana, erasing their two-possession deficit and tying the game at 54-54 four minutes in. Over the course of the next three minutes, the Bluejays erupted for 15 straight points to cushion themselves with a comfortable lead. At the halfway point of the second half, the home team saw their advantage hit the 20-point mark, where it stayed above for the remainder of the game.
"We were really able to compete and execute well through the first half and first four minutes of the second," said head coach
Tom Jessee. "We just weren't able to sustain it the rest of the way."
Four others joined Hawkins in double figures for Augie as
Luke Johnson finished with 12 points to help lead the balanced offensive attack.
Matt Hanushewsky and
Dan Carr each added 11 points, while
Chase Larsen contributed ten off of the bench. As a team, the Vikings hit 41 percent of their shots compared to the Bluejays' 56 percent mark.
With the loss, Augustana drops to 10-13 overall and 5-9 in the CCIW. They still remain a half game above North Park in sixth place for the final CCIW Tournament qualifying spot. The team will be back in action on Saturday, February 12 when they take on Carthage on the road. Tip is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Kenosha, Wis.
