Augustana used 62.7 percent field goal shooting to outscore Wayne State College 101-88 in a Northern Sun Conference men's basketball contest played Wednesday evening at Rice Auditorium in Wayne.  The visiting Vikings improve to 6-5 and 2-4 in the league while WSC drops its fifth straight game and is 7-5 and 1-5 in NSIC games.
            Wayne State held the lead for just 59 seconds in the opening half.  The game was close early with Augustana building a pair of five-point leads.  The final lead for the 'Cats in the opening half came at 20-19 following a JJ Ferrin 3-pointer with 13:04 to play in the half.
            WSC was within one at 27-26 at the 8:19 mark when the Vikings went on a 12-1 scoring run to take a 38-28 lead with 4:34 to play in the half.  The 'Cats battled back and cut the Augustana lead to three at intermission – 45-42.
            The early part of the second half was a back-and-forth battle that saw 10 lead changes and one tie.  But the Vikings pulled away in the final minutes and used stellar shooting from the field and free throw line to hit the century mark in a 101-88 win.
            Wayne State held a 60-59 lead thanks to a David Harmon jumper with 14:16 to play.  A Trey Deveaux step back jumper nearly a minute later tied the score at 62-62.  The Vikings built the lead to seven at 75-68 with 7:30 remaining. 
            The 'Cats rallied one more time and got as close as two at 78-76 on a Noah Erickson basket with 5:44 left.  Augustana pushed the lead to 10 at 88-78 and the Vikings never allowed a Wildcat comeback thanks to sinking 19 of 20 free throws in the second half while also hitting 16 of 25 shots from the field for 64 percent as Augustana finished with a 101-88 win.
            Six players scored in double figures for Wayne State, led by Harmon with 19 points.  Deveaux added 16 and Cody McCullough had 15.  Erickson poured in a career-best 13 off the bench while Ferrin (11) and Alec Millender (10) also hit double digits for Wayne State.
            WSC shot 52.5 percent from the field making 32 of 61 shots.  The 'Cats were 8 of 16 from the 3-point line and 16 for 19 at the free throw line.
            Isaac Fink had a game-high 30 points to lead Augustana.  Jadan Graves and Arhman Lewis each scored 21 points with Brady Helgren adding 14 for the Vikings.
            Augustana made 32 of 51 shots for 62.7 percent, including 9 of 13 behind the arc.  The Vikings were also solid at the foul line making 28 of 31 attempts for 90 percent.
            Augustana held a slim 27-25 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats.  McCullough had nine boards for WSC. 
            Millender had a team-high four assists while Ferrin recorded three steals.
            The Wildcats close out the pre-Christmas schedule Saturday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. contest at Sioux Falls.