Daniel Jansen recorded his second straight double-double finishing with a season-high 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead Augustana to a 72-62 road victory over Northern State on Saturday night.
Augustana (17-5, 13-5 NSIC) has now won nine straight games over Northern State (17-8, 12-6 NSIC), including five straight games in Aberdeen.
Cameron McCaffrey finished the night with a team-high 25 points, 15 of which he scored in the second half. Freshman post Zach Huisken added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for the Vikings on 3 of 4 shooting, including 2 of 2 from 3-point range. Huisken also hit 5 of 10 free throws in the contest.
Northern State had three players reach double-figures, led by Collin Pryor’s 18 points. Geoffrey Firmin added 15 points while Dustin Tetzlaff pitched in with 14 points and nine boards.
Augustana opened the scoring in the game on a 3-pointer by McCaffrey and it never trailed on the night. The Vikings went on to take an eight-point lead at 13-5 in the first seven minutes of the half after a jumper by Leif Nomeland.
Northern State went on a 10-4 run over the next three and a half minutes of the first half to cut the Vikings’ lead to two at 17-15.
Augustana answered with an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to take an 11-point lead at 28-17 with 5:35 to play in the first half. Northern State would cut that lead to just three over the final minutes of the first half and the Vikings led a 35-30 lead at the half.
Augustana shot 50 percent (13 of 26) from the field in the half, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. Jansen led the Vikings in the half with 17 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including a 3-pointer and 4 of 8 shooting from the free throw line.
Northern State shot just 32 percent (10 of 31) from the field, including just 1 of 6 from 3-point range. Pryor and Firmin each finished the half with eight points.
NSU cut Augustana’s lead to two at 36-34 with 18:37 to play in the half before the Vikings were able to push the lead up to nine at 48-39 over the next six minutes after a 3-pointer by McCaffrey.
Augustana led by 11 points (52-41) with 9:45 to play in the game and Northern State was able to cut the deficit to two at 56-54 with 5:20 left.
The two teams would trade baskets over the next two minutes before Yuriy Malasheko drilled a 3-pointer from the corner with 3:11 left in the game to put the Vikings up by five at 63-58.
The Vikings would close-out the final minutes of the game by hitting two field goals and five free throws to seal the 72-62 win.
Augustana stays on the road next weekend taking on the University of Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.
Courtesy: Tim Evans, Sports Information Director, Augustana College
