Vikings outlast Wolves 90-85

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The host Augustana College Vikings never led by more than eight points, but also never trailed for more than 15 seconds in the second half, scoring seven points in the final 25 seconds of the game to outlast a persistent Northern State University squad 90-85 Sunday afternoon in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men’s basketball action.

The Wolves have now dropped three straight decisions and stand at 5-3 overall and 1-3 in league play, while the Vikings have won two straight after losing their first two conference games on opening weekend and now stand at 5-3 overall and an even 2-2 in the conference.

NSU took the first lead of the game and held onto it through much of the first half before three straight three-pointers by freshman Trevor Hass turned a five-point NSU lead into a 25-23 Vikings advantage at the 5:40 mark of the half.  A fourth trey from Hass just before halftime to send the Vikings into the break holding a 39-33 lead.

Augustana pushed their lead to eight in the first 30 seconds of the second period, but the Wolves fought back to take a 54-53 lead at the 11:10 mark on a conventional three-point play from newcomer Dustin Tetzlaff.  The sophomore snatched an offensive rebound in traffic and muscled it back up and in while drawing the foul.

A Viking layup later, Tetzlaff again put the Wolves ahead with an uncontested layup off a zippy Marko Filipovic assist.  From there, however, the Vikings turned to sophomore point guard Cameron McCaffrey, who scored 16 of his 22 second half points in the final 10:22 of the game.

Junior Cody Schilling also scored all 16 of his points in the second half, including eight in the final minute and a half of play to help the Vikings ward off all NSU comeback efforts.

The Wolves made it interesting late, scoring back-to-back three-pointers by senior Derek Hoellein to close to within two at 72-70 with just under four minutes to go.  Two McCaffrey free throws and a Schilling bucket later, the Vikings were back up by six, but the Wolves again cut it to three after a made free throw from Bojan Todorovic, who assisted on a Collin Pryor layup on the following possession.

After that, however, the trail went cold for the Wolves, who converted on just three field goals in the final 2:20 of the game and were forced to send the Vikings to the free throw line.

Pryor finished with 22 points and seven rebounds to pace the Wolves’ offensive efforts.  Junior David Lane added 18 points and seven assists, going 4-for-5 from long range.  Hoellein added another four treys and finished with 14 points, while Tetzlaff chipped in 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds off the bench.

Spurred by his 22-point second-half performance and a 13-for-16 effort from the charity stripe, McCaffrey posted a game-high 27 points.  Schilling chipped in his 16 points, while Hass came off the bench for 17 points.

The Wolves return home for their final weekend of play before the Christmas holiday.  NSU plays host to Bemidji State on Friday and Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday.  Both contests are slated for 8 p.m. tip-offs following the women’s games.