Augustana Viking Men, 3-Players Net 20 Each In Win Over Wayne State

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WAYNE, America – In what will go down as one of the more entertaining games of 2023-24, three Augustana men’s basketball players reached 20 or more points in a 101-88 win at Wayne State. Isaac Fink led the way with 30 points while Jadan Graves and Arhman Lewis poured in 21 each.

Using a red-hot 62.7 field goal percentage, the Vikings moved to 6-5 on the season and 2-4 in the NSIC while WSC fell to 7-5, 1-5.

In a back-and-forth opening half, the Vikings entered the locker room holding a 45-42 lead. The entertainment level then expedited in the second half as the scoring pace picked up. In all in the second half, there were 10 lead changes as part of 14 total lead changes throughout the contest.

Trailing by three at 53-50, Fink made a jumper in the paint and was followed by a layup from Graves to regain the lead at 54-53. The squads continued to trade the lead until back-to-back baskets from Lewis gave AU a lead it would not relinquish.

Tied at 62, the freshman making his first start of the year, made a jumper just outside the paint. He then scored on a layup for a 66-62 advantage with 12:13 on the clock.

After a single free throw from WSC, Graves sank a 3-point basket to give Augustana its largest lead of the game, at the time, to six points at 69-63.

Augustana’s lead gradually grew to 10 points over the next eight minutes of the game clock as Fink scored on a layup to make the score 78-88 with 2:56 remaining.

The home team then began to stretch the game, committing fouls nearly every time AU had the ball as the Vikings went 13-of-14 from the charity stripe for the final score of 101-88.

In what is believed to be a first in program history, Augustana shot 62.7 percent from the charity stripe, 69.2 percent from long range, and 90.3 percent from the free throw line.

As part of the 69.2 percent from 3-point range, Graves was automatic at 5-of-5 while going 6-of-7 from the field. In addition, Brady Helgren was perfect from the field (4-of-4) in a career-high 14-point performance.

The Vikings return home for the final contest pre-Christmas break with a 5:30 p.m. tip against Southwest Minnesota State. The game will be played at the Sanford Pentagon with Santa greeting fans before the contest.