Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – Northern State University senior Kevin Ratzsch (Bloomington, Ill.) scored the team's last nine points in regulation as the Wolves erased a 16-point first-half deficit to force overtime before falling to the visiting Augustana Vikings Saturday night in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action.

The loss, NSU's first of the season, drops the Wolves to 7-1 overall and an even 1-1 in conference play.  Augustana, which entered the game on the heels of a 56-68 upset loss to the University of Mary Friday night, improved to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the loop.

The Vikings jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first half and led for nearly the entire contest before Ratzsch, who scored 16 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, buried a 3-pointer with 1:34 left in the game to force the game's first tie.

The two squads traded 2-point buckets before the Vikings called a pair of timeouts in their final possession to try and orchestrate a game-winning shot.  Cody Schilling's 3-pointer with six seconds left ended up in the hands of NSU's Brett Newton (Tyler, Minn.) and a desperation trey at the buzzer from Ratzsch bounced off the backboard, sending the game into the extra period.

After trading 3-pointers to open the extra stanza, Augustana scored five straight points to give themselves the extra cushion they needed.  NSU got back to within three points on two occasions, but were forced to foul in the game's final 20 seconds of play.  The Vikings converted on five of six free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.

In addition to Ratzsch's 24 points, the Wolves got a career-high 21 points from junior Mitch Boeck (Arlington, S.D.), besting his previous mark of 19 set against Wayne State on Friday.  Senior Kyle Schwan (Aberdeen, S.D.) had 11 points off the bench.

The Vikings got a 21-point effort from Cody Schilling and a solid 14-point, 16-rebound double-double from big man Eric Krogman.  All but one of his 16 boards came on the defensive end of the court as the Vikings held NSU to just 12 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points.

NSU suffered its second-worst shooting performance of the season, converting on just 38.8 percent from the floor and just 27.6 percent (8 of 29) from 3-point range.  The Wolves, however, were perfect from the free throw line, converting on all 11 attempts.

Augustana, meanwhile shot at a 44.1 percent clip from the floor on the night.  The Vikings' strong first-half run was fueled in part by a sizzling 62.5 percent (5 of 8) shooting effort from long range.

The Wolves will be back in action next weekend as they play host to #24 Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and #8 Minnesota State on Saturday.  The Mavericks took a 93-84 win over SMSU Saturday evening in Marshall, Minn.

NSU head coach Don Meyer still stands at 898 wins in his career, just five away from overtaking Bobby Knight for the most wins by an NCAA coach.