WHEATON, Ill. -- The Augustana Vikings men's basketball team got back in the win column on Wednesday, picking up a 75-62 road win over the Wheaton Thunder.

The Thunder secured the first points of the game and held just two leads early, but it quickly vanished due to a made three-pointer by Staishaun Kelley and a pair of free throws from Ray Maurchie to put the Vikings out in front for good. The distance between the two teams remained within just two possessions for the first seven minutes of the game, but Augie grabbed its largest advantage of seven on a Colton Gillingham jumper to make it 15-8. Augustana and Wheaton went back and forth for the next three minutes, with the Thunder getting back within just two points again around the 10-minute mark. The Vikings countered with a 7-0 run from there, seeing points come from three different players to build a 25-16 cushion. A three by Evan Ambrose at 6:20 pushed the differential to double figures and Augie held on to the double-digit advantage until a last-second three by the Thunder made it a 35-27 game at halftime. The Vikings hit 34 percent of their looks through the opening 20 minutes and held the Thunder to just 22 percent shooting.

Augie saw a positive first five minutes in the second, growing its lead out to as many as 14 at 47-33. The Thunder fought back and cut the deficit to five over the next three minutes before a slow stretch of offense both ways followed over the course of the next five. The Vikings endured another small scoring run from the home team that shrunk the gap to just two, but a four-point play by Tyler Knuth halted the momentum and pushed the lead back out to multiple possessions. Knuth capped off a 15-7 scoring outburst for Augie to give the Vikings another double-digit advantage with four minutes to go before the team hit its final three three-point attempts to pull away for the 13-point victory.

Both teams shot better in the second half, with the Vikings enduring a 52 percent clip from the Thunder. Augie held a big advantage from deep, connecting on 13 triples to Wheaton's six. The Vikings were led in scoring by Knuth with 22 points, while Chase Larsen followed with a season-best 17 points. Gillingham also eclipsed double figures with 10.

With the win, Augustana improves to 9-6 on the season and 2-4 in the CCIW. The team will return home to face Carroll on Saturday.