CROOKSTON, Minn. – The No. 21 Augustana University Vikings shot 60.3 percent from the field on the game and out-scored University of Minnesota Crookston 53-30 in the first half to earn a 101-68 win Fri., Dec. 13 at Lysaker Gymnasium.

The Golden Eagles held the game tighter in the second stanza as they were just out-scored 48-38 in the final frame. However, Augustana's shooting performance and Minnesota Crookston's struggles from the field led to a victory for the Vikings.

Augustana avenges Minnesota Crookston's historic 87-72 win over the Vikings in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Feb. 27 to make their first-ever appearance in the NSIC/Sanford Health quarterfinals. The Vikings move to 9-1 (4-0 NSIC) with Friday's victory. Minnesota Crookston falls to 6-4 (2-2 NSIC).

The Golden Eagles were led by the play of Zac Olson (So., G/F, Waterville, Minn.) of the bench as the transfer had a career-high 16 points on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Olson was a huge bright spot for Minnesota Crookston as he found his shooting stroke on the night.

Harrison Cleary (Sr., G, Oak Creek, Wis.) added 18 points, but Augustana blanketed him all night making every shot tough as he went just 6-of-22 from the field and 2-of-7 from beyond the arc. Cleary inches closer to Gage Davis' all-time NSIC scoring record, as he needs 314 points to surpass the St. Cloud State University great. Cleary has 18 NSIC games left to pass Davis, which would mean he would need to average 17.4 points per game the rest of the way for the Golden Eagles. Cleary is currently notching 26.8 points per game following Friday night's game.

Ibu Jassey-Demba (Jr., F, Birmingham, England) added eight points for the Golden Eagles. Zach Westphal (R-Fr., G, West Fargo, N.D.) came off the bench for seven points, while Javier Nicolau (Sr., F/C, Castellon, Spain) had six points.

Minnesota Crookston was 20-of-62 for 32.3 percent from the field. They shot 7-of-27 for 25.9 percent from beyond the arc, and were just 21-of-21 for 67.7 percent from the foul line.

Augustana looked to 25 points and nine boards from Tyler Riemersma. Matt Todd added 18 points and seven assists. Jameson Bryan also had seven assists. The Vikings had 25 assists on 41 made field goals.

Adam Dykman came off the bench for 18 points, while Dylan LeBrun added 11 points. Michael Schaefer chipped in six points and seven rebounds.

Augustana was 41-of-68 from the field for 60.3 percent. They were 12-of-22 for 54.5 percent from distance, and 7-of-12 for 58.3 percent from the line.

They controlled the glass 47-30 for the night.

Minnesota Crookston got the first points of the game on a Nicolau basket with 18:39 left in the first quarter. Augustana countered with a 6-0 run culminated by a Riemersma hoop.

The Golden Eagles pulled within 6-4 on a Cleary jumper. Augustana came right back with a 5-0 run following a LeBrun fast-break basket as they took an 11-4 advantage.

A Cleary three off a Chase Johnson (R-Jr., F/C, La Crosse, Wis.) assist trimmed the deficit to 11-7. However, Augustana hit back-to-bak treys to widen the gap to 17-7.

A pair of Brian Sitzmann (R-So., G/F, Savage, Minn.) free throws cut the lead to 17-9. But the Vikings came right back with a 7-0 run as a Bryan fast-break bucket pushed the lead to 24-9 with 10 minutes remaining in the half.

Minnesota Crookston was able to cut the lead down to 28-16 on a Jassey-Demba trey with 8:12 remaining. However, the Vikings had the answer again as they utilized a 10-0 run to push the lead out to 41-16 with a Dykman trey.

Minnesota Crookston stopped the run with a pair of Cleary free throws to trim the lead to 41-18. Dykman responded with another three to push the advantage to 44-18.

The Golden Eagles stopped a four-minute stretch without a field goal as Olson drained a trey off a Tyrese Shines (Fr., G, LaGrange, Ill.) assist to cut the deficit to 44-21.

Augustana would push the lead out to 25 on a Riemersma bucket with 3:20 remaining. However, buckets from Johnson and Cleary would cut the lead down to 21 late in the first half. The Vikings went into the break with the 53-30 advantage.

Augustana continued where they left off early in the second stanza as they utilized an 8-0 lead to take a 62-30 advantage following a Riemersma basket off the LeBrun assist.

Minnesota Crookston scored their first points of the second half as Jassey-Demba drained three free throws after being fouled on the three-point attempt as they took the deficit down to 29 at 62-33.

The Vikings came right back with a 16-2 run as a Dykman dunk put Augustana ahead 78-35 with 14:06 left in the game. Minnesota Crookston halted the run with a Cleary bucket with 13:19 left in the game.

Augustana pushed the lead out to a game-high 46 points on a Bodey Behrends basket with 10:57 left in the game as they went ahead 87-41.

Minnesota Crookston was able to make a dent in the lead from there as they used a 10-0 run to trim the deficit to 87-51 propelled by two Olson triples. A Behrends bucket halted the run to put Augie back ahead 89-51.

However, Olson lifted the Golden Eagles on a 7-0 run as he accounted for five of those points to cut the deficit to 89-58.

Minnesota Crookston would bring the lead down to 30 points with 4:28 remaining in the game following a Shines bucket. That would be as close as they would get as a Carter Rynda three-pointer pushed the lead to 101-68 and that would be the final tally on the night.

The Golden Eagles will look to stop a two-game losing streak as they host Wayne State College Sat., Dec. 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Lysaker Gymnasium.