SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Augustana) — The Augustana men’s basketball team, the only team in the NSIC to win an opening round road game, saw its season come to a close on Sunday night, falling 85-51 to the No. 3-seed MSU Moorhead Dragons in the NSIC Quarterfinals at the Sanford Pentagon.
The Vikings finish the year 12-18 overall while the Dragons move to 21-8 and advance to the NSIC semifinals.
Akoi Akoi, the lone senior on the Augustana roster, led the Vikings with 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. After knocking down a pair of free throws early in the first half, Akoi became the 38th player in program history to record 1,000 career points.
Also in double figures was Bennett Fried, who scored 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting while grabbing five boards. Sam Rensch knocked down the lone AU 3-pointer and scored seven points while Tanner Te Slaa and Tameron Ferguson scored six apiece.
Te Slaa scored the first four Viking points before a jumper from Akoi put the Vikings ahead 6-5 at the 16:31 mark of the first half. Five straight Dragon points put them ahead 10-6 and they would lead the rest of the night.
Ferguson and Rensch sandwiched an MSUM bucket to get within 12-10. Rensch followed a Dragon jumper with a 3-pointer to get within 14-13 but a 4-0 MSUM run added cushion. Akoi’s free throws and a Fried putback canceled out the run and put the Vikings back within a point. At 18-17 with 10:03 left in the first half.
The difference floated around three and seven for the next five minutes until the 3:38 mark when a Fried jumper brought the Vikings within 28-23. From there, a 27-3 avalanche from the Dragons put the game away, giving them a 55-26 lead with 15:29 remaining.
In the final 15:02 of the second half, Akoi scored seven points and Fried scored six while the Vikings shot 11 of 22 from the field but were outscored 30-25 to bring the game to its final score.
