ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball saw their three-game home winning streak come to an end on Wednesday, falling to the visiting No. 8 ranked Wheaton Thunder by a final of 74-72 from inside the Carver Center.

The teams played a back-and-forth battle to begin the contest, with neither team holding a lead of more than one possession for the first five minutes of action. Wheaton was the first to pull away from the close fight, growing the margin up to as many as seven on three different occasions. Augustana slowly trimmed away at the deficit and eventually evened things back up at 30 points apiece before a 6-2 spurt from the Thunder put them back up four with a minute to go in the half. Consecutive baskets on the final two possessions from Chase Larsen and Colton Gillingham squared the two teams at 36-36 after 20 minutes of play. Larsen was one of eight Vikings to notch at least a point in the opening half and was tied for a game-high eight points entering the second.

After 10 minutes of action into the second half, the two teams remained deadlocked on the scoreboard. At the six-minute mark, the visitors once again saw an advantage of seven points before pushing it out to eight with 1:34 left in the contest. Points on back-to-back possessions brought Augie back within four at 72-68 with 43 seconds to go and after the Thunder hit one of two from the line, Matt Hanushewsky brought the game back to one possession for the first time in six minutes. Again, Wheaton went 1-2 from the line and Hanushewsky was sent back to the charity stripe on the other end, converting both attempts. The Vikings fouled with six seconds left, resulting in two missed free throws from Wheaton, but were unable to get off a last-second look at the basket.

Both teams shot at a similar mark from the field, with the Vikings hitting 48.2 percent of their looks and the Thunder at 49 percent. Wheaton hit three more attempts from behind the arc, shooting at 25 percent, while Augustana was 30 percent on their attempts.

Three Vikings eclipsed double figures, led by Gillingham season-high 12 points. Larsen and Hanushewsky both finished with 10. Mikey Hamilton added eight points and six rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

With the loss, Augustana drops to 7-14 overall and 5-7 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action on Saturday, February 4 when they host the Carthage Firebirds. Start time is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.