Augustana 89 Wayne State 71

            Augustana College outscored Wayne State 51-35 in the second half to break open a close game and pull away for a 89-71 win over Wayne State College Monday evening in the Northern Sun Conference opener for both teams played at the Sioux Falls Arena.  The host Vikings move to 6-0 and 1-0 in the NSIC while dropping WSC to 1-3 and 0-1 in the league.
            The first half was a back and forth battle between the two teams that featured six ties and eight lead changes. 
            Augustana held a pair of four point leads early at 6-2 and 8-4, but WSC used a Patrick Kurth layup and Jamie Pearson 3-pointer to grab a 9-8 lead. 
            Following the game's fourth tie at 18-18, WSC used a Pearson trey and a layup and 3-pointer from Jordan Holdsworth to take a 26-20 lead with 6:18 to play in the first half.
            The Vikings scored eight of the next 10 points to even the score at 28 with 3:45 to go in the half.  Pearson canned back-to-back 3's to give WSC a 34-30 lead.  Augustana then closed the first half scoring eight of the last 10 points for a 38-36 halftime advantage.
            Augustana opened the second half scoring the first six points for a 44-36 lead.  A Tyler Nagy 3-pointer got WSC within five at 44-39.  After both teams traded baskets, Augustana put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run over the next 5:50 to take a 63-44 lead.  The Vikings pushed the lead to a game-high 25 points at 87-62 with 4:11 remaining before finishing the contest with an 89-71 win over the Wildcats.
            Wayne State's top scorer was junior guard Jamie Pearson with 19 points on 6 of 12 shooting including 5 for 8 from beyond the arc.  Junior forward Jordan Holdsworth added 12 points followed by Trae VandeBerg and Patrick Kurth with 11 each and Kendall Jacks 10.
            The Wildcats were 23 of 51 from the field for 45.1 percent including 10 of 25 from the 3-point line.  WSC was 15 for 20 at the charity stripe.
            Augustana was led by junior center Daniel Jansen with 33 points.  Casey Schilling contributed 17 points to the Viking win with Adam Beyer (14) and Jordan Spencer (13) also reaching double figures.
            The Vikings shot 51.7 percent from the field making 30 of 58 shots and 6 for 17 from the 3-point line.  Augustana was a sizzling 23 of 25 at the foul line for 92 percent.
            Augustana held a 34-23 advantage in rebounding over Wayne State with Jansen grabbing nine rebounds for the Vikings while Holdsworth and Joel Heesch each hauled in five boards to lead Wayne State.
            WSC had 22 turnovers in the game compared to 15 on Augustana.  The Vikings held a 46-24 edge on points in the paint while Wayne State's bench produced 44 points in the game.          
            The Wildcats will be in action again on Wednesday evening playing at Division I South Dakota in the Dakota Dome for a 7 p.m. contest.  The game is an exhibition for Wayne State.