Box Score ABERDEEN, S.D. - The Northern State Wolves rallied from a five-point halftime deficit to close to within two with five minutes to go and within three with just under 2:00 to go, but were unable to overcome a cool shooting night and the Augustana Vikings, falling 62-72 Saturday evening in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball action.
NSU, which dropped its second straight game for the first time since the opening two contests of the season, slipped to 17-6 overall and 12-6 in NSIC play. The Vikings, who were receiving votes in the latest NABC Top 25 poll, moved to 17-5 on the season and 13-5 in the loop.
With four games left in the regular season, the Wolves retain their hold on second place in the NSIC North Division, one game back of St. Cloud State.
Down by as many as 12 in the first half and 11 midway through the second, Northern State used back-to-back three-pointers from freshman
Skye Warwick to cut it to a two-possession game and force the Vikings to burn a timeout. A conventional three-point play by senior
Dustin Tetzlaff a few minutes later cut it to three at 55-52 with 6:47 to go, and a pair of
Collin Pryor free throws made it a one-possession affair at 56-54 with 5:20 left on the clock.
Augustana refused to relinquish the lead, getting a three from the corner by Yuriy Maleshenko and a jumper in the lante by Cameron McCaffrey to push the lead back out to seven. Four straight points by senior
Geoffrey Firmin, however, cut it to 65-62 with 1:39 to play.
McCaffrey, however, converted on four straight free throws late in the game to seal the win, as NSU's attempts on the offensive end of the court misfired and the Wolves were forced to foul to stop the clock.
Pryor and Tetzlaff each finished the night going 6-for-13 from the floor. Pryor tallied 18 points and seven rebounds for the Wolves, while Tetzlaff put up 14 points and nine boards. Firmin added 15 points while going 9-for-12 from the free throw line. As a team, NSU was a cool 36.4 percent from the floor, including 3-for-17 from long range.
McCaffrey had 25 points to lead the Vikings, while Daniel Jansen added 24 points and 11 boards. Zach Huisken chipped in with 13, including 2-for-2 from long range. The Vikings were 7-for-16 from three-point range on the night.
NSU returns to the road next weekend to face Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State next weekend. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. on Friday in Duluth and 6 p.m. from St. Cloud on Saturday.
