WHITEWATER, Wis. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was defeated on the road on Tuesday, falling to the No. 2 ranked UW-Whitewater Warhawks by a score of 93-79.

The two teams began the game with a back-and-forth battle, playing to an 11-11 tie after five minutes of action. The Vikings strung together the next five points thanks to a layup from Mike Hamilton and a three by Anthony Cooper, but the Warhawks answered with a 17-0 run spanning over five minutes. The double-digit lead for the home team remained intact through halftime after hitting nearly 65 percent of their looks in the opening frame. Whitewater led 49-33 at the break.

Augustana shrunk the margin to 13 points nearly three minutes into the second half, but could not get the deficit any smaller until the eight-minute mark. Free throws from Evan Ambrose brought the score to 76-64, followed by two other instances getting within 12. Augie was unable to get any closer despite holding a slight advantage on the scoreboard through the final 20 minutes. Augie hit 16 of its 28 shot attempts over that time frame and connected on 80 percent of their looks from the free throw line both in the half and for the game.

A total of 12 different Vikings scored in the contest, led by Tyler Knuth's season-high 20 points on 5-8 shooting. Matt Hawkins added 14 off the bench, while Hamilton added 10 points. Augustana also controlled the turnover battle, forcing 14. Chase Larsen led the defensive effort with five steals.

"We played a very talented and veteran team tonight," said head coach Tom Jessee. "We did not play well enough defensively, but I love the toughness that we played with offensively and how we stuck together."

With the loss, Augie drops to 1-4 on the season. The team will return home on Sunday, November 26 when they host the UW-Stevens Point Pointers. Start time is scheduled for 3 p.m.