ROCK ISLAND -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team picked up its second straight victory on Wednesday, earning a double-digit win over the North Central Cardinals by a score of 87-69.

The two teams battled back and forth to begin the game, with the Cardinals holding a slight 10-9 lead after five minutes of action. Augie answered with its first big spurt of the contest, scoring the game's next 12 points to bring the score to 21-10 at the halfway point. The Vikings continued to have their foot on the gas, pushing a lead out to as many as 19 points to cap off a 23-10 scoring outburst that spanned over the course of seven minutes. The Augie cushion hit 20 points moments later as the Vikings doubled up the Cardinals at 40-20. North Central made a late surge to close the half, scoring 10 of the final 12 points of the frame to cut the margin to 12 at 42-30 at the break. Augustana shot 48 percent through the first 20 minutes of action and hit a scorching 63.6 percent (7-11) from behind the arc.

A deadball technical foul to close the first half gave Augie a point from the free throw line to kick off the second before running its lead back up to 20 just two-and-a-half minutes into the frame. The differential reached 22 points shortly after and the Vikings remained well ahead of the Cardinals the rest of the way. Through the first 10 minutes of action, the closest North Central got was 15 points prior to Augie quickly creating a new largest lead of 25 with 6:12 remaining. The Vikings continued to shoot the ball efficiently, this time seeing their success come inside the paint. Augie shot 53 percent in the second half on 17 made shots despite hitting just 3-8 from deep. The team also limited North Central to just 34 percent shooting and a 28 percent clip from behind the three-point line. Nine different Vikings made at least one basket during the final 20 minutes of action.

For the game, Augustana shot over 50 percent both overall and from downtown. The team was lead by Tyler Knuth's 22 points on 80 percent shooting, followed by four others in double figures. Mike Hamilton ended with 13 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Matt Hawkins notched 11 points and five rebounds. Chase Larsen added a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, Augie improves to 8-15 overall and 5-9 in the CCIW. The team will remain at home for their next game on Saturday, February 10 against Millikin for Senior Night.