ELMHURST, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team earned a win in its conference opener on Wednesday, using a strong second half performance to knock off the Elmhurst Bluejays on the road by a score of 77-66. It is the first win for Augustana over the Bluejays in Elmhurst since January of 2019.

Staishaun Kelley scored the game's first five points to give the Vikings the early advantage, but the Bluejays evened the score around the 16-minute mark before taking their first lead of the contest moments later. Elmhurst held on to the advantage for the next eight minutes until a 6-0 run from Augie flipped the lead in the Vikings' favor at a score of 20-18. From there, the Bluejays strung together a 9-0 scoring run of their own to post the largest lead for either team at 27-20. The seven-point margin remained intact as each team notched 10 points apiece in the final five minutes of action. Elmhurst led 37-30 at the break after shooting 58 percent from the floor and hitting half of its looks from three-point range. The Vikings connected on 50 percent of their attempts through the first 20 minutes, but made just one of nine shots from deep.

A three-point play by the home team in the opening minute of the second half half stretched the differential to double figures, but 13 straight points for the Vikings, seven of which coming from Tyler Knuth, put them out in front at 43-40. From there, the lead was exchanged twice until Augie went back out in front for good following a three from Knuth around the 14-minute mark. The game remained within two possessions for the next five minutes and the Bluejays caught back up to tie the score at 51 apiece, but the Vikings never lost the lead as they used a 12-2 run over the span of the next three minutes to garner their first double-digit advantage of the contest. The closest Elmhurst got the rest of the way was eight and Augie closed things out with an 11-point victory.

The Vikings hit 57 percent of their shots in the second half, including 6-7 from three-point range, to finish at 54 percent for the game. The team's defense also held the Bluejays to just 35 percent shooting the ball through the final 20 minutes. Knuth led all scorers with 25 points on 8-12 shooting and four made three-pointers, while Kelley added 16 points and a pair of steals. Chase Larsen also ended in double figures with 10.

With the victory, Augustana improves to 5-1 on the season. The team will remain on the road for a battle with North Central on Saturday.