Augustana 75 Wayne State 66

            Augustana grabbed 25 offensive rebounds and held a commanding 33-4 advantage in second chance points to lead the Vikings in a 75-66 win over Wayne State College in the Northern Sun Conference men's basketball opener for both teams Saturday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  WSC drops to 3-6 and 0-1 in league play while Augustana improves to 6-1 and 1-0 in the NSIC.
            Neither team led by more than five points in the first half that featured eight ties and seven lead changes. 
            Wayne State's biggest lead of the first half was 17-12 following a Nate Thayer layup at the 10:41 mark. 
            Augustana then went on a 10-1 run and took their biggest lead of the half at 22-18 with 7:51 to go in the half.
            The Wildcats ended the first half with a 35-33 lead despite Augustana grabbing 15 offensive rebounds in the first half, but WSC held the lead thanks to 12-38 field goal shooting (31.6%) by the Vikings in the first half.
            Augustana scored the first eight points of the second half to grab a 41-35 lead. 
            Wayne State still trailed 44-39, but scored seven straight points and took their first lead of the second half at 46-44 on a Nick Ferrarini jumper with 12:40 left.
            The final lead of the night for Wayne State came on a Nate Thayer 3-pointer for a 57-55 lead with 8:13 remaining.
            Wayne State was still within two at 61-59 with 5:24 to play, but the Wildcats ran out of gas and Augustana built a double-digit lead at 72-62 with 1:10 to play and finished with a 75-66 victory.
            The story of the game was Augustana's domination in rebounding, holding a 54-36 edge over WSC.  The Vikings grabbed 25 offensive rebounds that led to a 33-4 advantage on points in the paint.
            Tyler Riemersma had 20 points and 16 rebounds for Augustana while Michael Schaefer added a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.  Adam Dykman (15) and Matt Todd (14) also scored double digits for the Vikings.
            Augustana made just 25 of 73 shots for 34.2 percent and was just 3 of 19 on 3-pointers.  The Vikings were 22 for 32 (68.8%) at the free throw line.
            Jordan Janssen led Wayne State with 14 points followed by Nick Ferrarini (13) and Al'Tavius Jackson (10).
            WSC was 23-57 shooting for 40.4 percent, going 4-18 from the 3-point line.  The Wildcats were 16-23 at the free throw line.
            Henry Penner and Nate Mohr each had four assists for WSC while Al'Tavius Jackson was credited with four steals.  Ferrarini had three blocked shots with Janssen adding two.
            Wayne State will be at home again next weekend, hosting Upper Iowa Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Winona State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Northern Sun Conference contests.