Box Score

ABERDEEN, S.D. – For the second night in a row, the Northern State University Wolves gave up the early lead in a crucial Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference match-up and found themselves unable to recover, falling behind 19th ranked Augustana College almost from the start and allowing the Vikings to rack up an 88-72 win Saturday night in NSIC men's basketball action.

The loss drops NSU – now 12-13 on the season and 8-10 in NSIC play – into a 3-way tie for eighth in the conference standings alongside Southwest Minnesota State and Upper Iowa.  The Wolves own the tiebreaker over UIU by virtue of their season sweep of the Peacocks, but must face the Mustangs of SMSU in the final game of the regular season next Saturday.

The Vikings, meanwhile, now 20-5 overall and 13-5 in league action, clinch a top-four seed in the post-season tournament and with it, the right to host a first-round game in the quarterfinal round of that affair.  Final standings and tournament pairings will be decided one week from Saturday.  All 14 teams have two games remaining on the regular season slate.

Despite drawing first blood on an opening lay-up from sophomore Casey Becker, the Wolves found points hard to come by in the first half.  The Vikings responded with two quick buckets and never looked back, racing out to a 45-26 lead by halftime and keeping the Wolves at bay in a physical second stanza with solid shooting from all over the floor.

NSU entered the weekend as the top team in the league in field goal defense, but the Vikings managed to find the holes in the Wolves' defense.  For the night, Augustana was 28 of 50 from the floor (56.0 percent), including a blistering 11-for-17 (64.7 percent) performance from beyond the arc.  Nine of those treys came from the hands of reserves Cameron McCaffrey and Nathan Truex, who were a combined 9 of 11 from long range.

NSU senior Mitch Boeck had 24 points – 22 of which came in the second half – to lead three players in double figures for the Wolves.  Redshirt freshman Collin Pryor also came off the bench to contribute a career-high 23 points, while junior Derek Hoellein added 11.  The Wolves, however, could not find a rhythm either in the paint or beyond the arc and finished the night shooting just 42.4 percent from the floor and 25.0 percent from downtown.

The Wolves now turn their attention to their final road game of the season on Wednesday as they travel to Moorhead, Minn. for a rematch against MSU Moorhead on Wednesday.  The Dragons claimed a tight 78-75 overtime victory over the Wolves in Aberdeen back on Jan. 29.  Tip-off for Wednesday's game is set for 8 p.m. following the women's contest at 6 p.m.