ELMHURST, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team was defeated on the road on Wednesday night, falling to the Elmhurst Bluejays by a score of 80-59.

Consecutive made shots from Chase Larsen put the Vikings on the board early with a 4-0 lead, but the Bluejays answered with 15 straight to claim momentum. The game of runs continued as Augie got within three following an 11-3 scoring outburst to put the score at 18-15, but again the home team responded, this time stringing together six in a row to move the differential to nine. The margin hovered nine the rest of the half as the two teams went back-and-forth before a Matt Hawkins jumper with under 30 seconds to go brought the Vikings within seven at 30-23 heading into halftime. Both teams shot around the 38 percent mark in the opening frame, but Elmhurst hit on three more made three-pointers to help lead to the advantage.

The first eight points of the second half belonged to the Bluejays as they saw their largest lead of the game sit at 15 just two minutes in. After a Larsen basket halted the run, the cushion reached 20 points as the home team capped off a 15-2 outburst through the first four minutes of action. Augie battled back, cutting the deficit to 11 around the five-minute mark, but was unable to get the margin into single digits as Elmhurst took it by a final score of 80-59. The Vikings hit an improved 42 percent of their looks in the second and connected on all 10 free throw attempts, but could not keep up with the Bluejays' 56 percent effort.

A total of 10 different Vikings found the scoring column, with Larsen, Tyler Knuth, and Evan Ambrose leading the way with 12 points apiece. 

With the loss, Augustana drops to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the CCIW. The team will be back in action Saturday at North Park.