McCaffrey's 27 points leads Augustana past Northern State

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Cameron McCaffrey netted a season-high 27 points--including 22 in the second half--to lead Augustana past Northern State 90-85 Sunday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference basketball in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Augustana moves to 5-3 (2-2 NSIC); NSU drops to 5-3 (1-3 NSIC).

McCaffrey finished 7 of 19 from the floor and also handed out four assists.

The Vikings also got 17 points from true freshman Trevor Hass and 16 from Cody Schilling.  Hass connected on five 3-pointers.

Derrick De Zeeuw was just a bucket and rebound short of a double-double, recording eight points and nine rebounds.

Six different Vikings scored at least eight points.

Collin Pryor scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Wolves.

In a tightly played first half, the Vikings received 14 points from the hot hand of Hass, who drilled four 3-pointers and sank a pair of free throws.

NSU owned as large as a five-point lead with 7:59 left before the break, but a trio of 3-pointers from Hass served as the answer and allowed the Vikings to take a two-point lead at 25-23.

Five points from De Zeeuw and another 3-pointer from Hass to close the first half afforded the Vikings a 39-33 lead at the break.

McCaffrey and Schilling, Augustana's two leading scorers, combined for just five points in the first half.

Working from the six-point difference, the Wolves used the first nine minutes of the second half to close that gap.

A 12-2 run from NSU got the Wolves their first lead of the second half at the 11:10 mark.  Seven points from Dustin Tetzlaff earned NSU the 53-54 advantage.

Augustana took what would be the decisive lead four minutes later on a pair of McCaffrey free throws, but NSU hung around, trailing 76-73 with just more than two minutes remaining.

Sporting a five-point lead in the game's final minute, Augustana made good on a host of trips to the charity stripe and connected on 10 free throws down the stretch to keep the Wolves at a comfortable distance.

The Vikings' bench totaled a season-high 37 points.

Both clubs shot well as NSU finished 48.5 percent from the floor, while Augustana converted at a 49.1 percent clip.

Augustana continues conference play on the road next weekend, traveling to Minnesota, Crookston and Minnesota State Moorhead.