ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team earned its third straight victory on Saturday, defeating the Millikin Big Blue on Senior Night by a score of 81-59.

Earning his first start of the year, senior Brett David got the Vikings on the board first following a defensive stop and layup. Augie never trailed the rest of the way, building a first-half lead as big as 15 points on three different occasions. After Millikin got within 13 around the five-minute mark, the Vikings scored the final six points of the half while holding the Big Blue scoreless over that span. Evan Ambrose's basket with three seconds to go moved the advantage to 34-15 heading into the break. A total of eight different Vikings tallied points in the opening 20 minutes, led by Tyler Knuth's 11 points. The team shot 39 percent in the first, but held Millikin to just 29 percent and and 0-7 mark from behind the three-point line. Augie also controlled the turnover battle, committing just one while forcing eight. The Vikings ended the half with eight points off turnovers, five second-chance points, and seven from the fast break, while also holding the Big Blue to zero in all three categories.

Millikin inched closer with the second half's first six points before the run was halted with a David three-pointer. The two teams then went back and forth for the next seven minutes, with the Vikings owning a lead as big as 17 before the Big Blue cut it to 11 with 10:47 to play. The 11-point margin was the closest the visitors got as Augie responded with a quick 5-0 spurt before pushing the cushion out to 20 points at 5:18. David's three-pointer around the two-minute mark put the exclamation mark on the Senior Night win as the differential reached 22 points, which proved to be the final margin.

Augustana improved on their first-half shooting effort with a scorching 77 percent effort on 17-22 shooting through the final 20 minutes. The Vikings also hit 5-6 from behind the arc and knocked down 80 percent of their free throws to make it an 85 percent clip for the entire game. 

Knuth led all scorers with 21 points, while Ambrose was next in line with 13 points and five rebounds. Chase Larsen also added 11 points and six rebounds. 

With the win, the Vikings improve to 9-15 on the season and 6-9 in the CCIW. The team will close out the regular season next Saturday at Carroll.