SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Augustana Vikings closed out the game on a 60-41 run as they upended University of Minnesota Crookston 87-68 Fri., Feb. 4 in Sioux Falls, S.D. The Golden Eagles would be knotted up 27-27 with the defending NCAA Division II Champions with 3:56 left in the first half. The Vikings would outscore UMC 13-6 in the final four minutes of the first half and 47-35 in the second half as they picked up the win over Minnesota Crookston.

The Golden Eagles fall to 7-16 (3-14 NSIC) with the loss on Friday. Augustana moves to 16-7 (11-6 NSIC) with the win over UMC.

Minnesota Crookston looked to 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from Harrison Cleary (Fr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) He was 4-of-12 from the field, but he made up for it with a strong performance on the line where he was 8-of-9 from the field. Chase Knickerbocker (So., G/F, Annandale, Minn.) added 16 points. Riley Rice (Sr., F/C, Mullen, Neb.) tallied 10 points in the first half.

The Golden Eagles shot 21-of-56 for 37.5 percent from the field. They were 10-of-26 for 38.5 percent from beyond the arc and 16-of-19 for 84.2 percent from the charity stripe.

Augustana was led by 16 points from Marcus Asmus off of the bench. Asmus was 7-of-9 from the field. Mike Busack added 15 points on 6-of-15 from the field. He was 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. Jordan Spencer added 14 points and seven assists on the evening.

The Vikings were 37-of-71 from the field for 52.1 percent as the Golden Eagles struggled the shut down Augustana, especially in the last 24 minutes. The Vikings were 5-of-17 from beyond the arc for 29.4 percent and 8-of-12 for 66.7 percent from the charity stripe. They also controlled the boards 49-23.

Minnesota Crookston would open up the game up on a 7-0 run led by a Knickerbocker three-pointer. UMC would move their lead to 14-6 with 14:45 left in the half as Knickerbocker converted a layup.

The Vikings would go on a little 4-0 run with a Lucas Walford dunk and a Busack layup to cut the lead to 14-10 with 11:53 left in the first half. UMC would respond with a basket from Cleary to extend their advantage to 16-10. The Vikings would use an 11-2 run to take the lead on an Adam Beyer jumper with 8:26 left in the first half and extend their lead to 21-18 on a Zach Huisken basket.

UMC would be able to squash the run with a pair of free throws from Cleary to cut the lead to 21-20. The Vikings responded with an Asmus jumper to push the advantage back out to 23-20. UMC would come right back and respond as Rice came off the bench for a clutch three-point to knot it up 23-23.

The Vikings would take the lead back and would extend it to 27-24 on an Asmus layup. UMC came right back and knotted it up on a Kobe Critchley (So., G, Roseville, Minn.) triple to make it 27-27. Augustana would counter with a Steven Schaefer jumper to put the Vikings up 29-27. They would continue their run and push it out to 36-27 on a John Warren dunk.

UMC ended the half with a pair of Rice three-pointers to help pull within 40-33 going into the locker room. Rice would have 10 points off of the bench to lead the way in the first half for UMC.

The Vikings would open up the second half with a Spencer jumper to extend their lead to 42-33. UMC would respond with a pair of Gable Smith (So., F, Lodi, Wis.) free throws to pull within 42-35 with 18:45 left in the game.

Augie would then counter with a 5-0 run led by a Busack three-pointer to extend their lead to 47-35. UMC would use a 4-0 run of their own with layups from Smith and Chase Johnson (Fr., F, La Crosse, Wis.) to cut the advantage to 47-39.

The Vikings would lead 52-42 after a Busack triple with 15:46 left in the half. They would be able to extend their lead to 15 (59-44) after an Asmus layup.

UMC would be able to cut the Augie advantage to 65-53 on a Smith layup with 10:43 left in the game. The Vikings would again respond and push their lead out to 73-58 with an Asmus layup with 8:08 remaining in the game.

The closest UMC would get the rest of the way would be 12 after a pair of Cleary free throws with 5:02 left in the game. The Vikings would close the game out on a 10-3 run as they came away with the 87-68 win over the Golden Eagles.

Minnesota Crookston will look to pick up the weekend split as they head to Wayne State College (Neb.) Sat., Feb. 4 for a 6 p.m. tilt with the Wildcats.