ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team dropped its first home game of the conference slate on Saturday, falling to the North Park Vikings by a final of 75-55.

"We could not overcome our slow start to the game," said head coach Tom Jessee. "We got great shots at the rim, but just could not finish. We really put ourselves in a hole early on."

North Park got off to a fast start, scoring the game's first 13 points while holding Augie scoreless for the opening five minutes. The visitors maintained a lead all the way through the first half, with Augustana getting within seven on two separate occasions. North Park answered each time with a pair of scoring spurts, pushing the cushion out to 13 twice. The visiting Vikings led 33-21 after 20 minutes of action. North Park hit 53 percent of its looks in the first half, while Augustana connected on 37.5 percent.

A three-pointer from Dani Romero inched the deficit back into single digits to begin the second half, but North quickly raced out to its largest lead of the game at 14 with a 7-2 scoring scoring run. A jumper from Matt Hawkins and pair of free throws from Chase Larsen moved the differential back to 10, but that was the closest the Vikings would get as North Park answered every threat with a spurt of their own. The visitors saw their advantage grow to as many as 26 before closing it out at its 75-55 final.

Augie had a much better second half defensively, holding North Park to just 40 percent shooting and 23.5 percent from behind the three-point line. Offensively, the Vikings were led in scoring by Andrew Ayeni with 11 points and Larsen and Hawkins each with 10. Larsen also added 10 boards.

With the loss, Augustana drops to 2-8 overall and 1-3 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action on Sunday, December 17 at home against Lake Forest.