DULUTH, Minn. – The Augustana men’s basketball team fell 70-61 at the hands of Minnesota Duluth on Friday night inside the Romano Gymnasium.
Augustana moves to 3-7 overall and 0-4 in the NSIC while the Bulldogs jump to 6-3, 1-2.
Tanner Te Slaa scored 19 points while adding four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the loss. He shot 3 of 6 from deep and 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Akoi Akoi scored 12 points and Bennett Fried had 11 points and two blocks. Jack Hastreiter grabbed a team-high six boards while Sam Rensch nabbed three steals.
The Vikings led as late as 52-50 with just under 10 minutes to play but the Bulldogs finished the game on a 20-9 run to close it out. The Vikings were able to stay within single digits despite shooting nine less free throws and being called for 12 more fouls. AU led in bench points (10-7) and points off turnovers (13-10) but couldn’t overcome fouls.
UMD opened the night on a 12-2 run before 3-pointers from Te Slaa and Hastreiter got the Vikings going. The Bulldogs countered with a 7-1 run and were able to hold their lead near double digits for most of the first half.
Trailing 33-18 at the final media timeout of the half, AU found a surge. A Brady Helgren dunk, six Te Slaa points and a Hastreiter 3-pointer brought the Vikings right back to 33-29 with 1:28 to play. UMD scored the final five points at the half, though, to take a 38-29 lead into the locker room.
After the Bulldogs increased their lead to 11 in the early stages of the second half, AU ripped off another run. Fried had four points during a 12-2 run to bring the Vikings back within 45-44 with 14:57 to go. After a UMD layup, Akoi and Fried each picked up a bucket to give AU its first lead of the day at 48-47 at the 12:30 mark.
The Bulldogs scored the next three points for a lead before the Vikings took it back with an Akoi 3-pointer and a Fried free throw. The Bulldogs went on its closing run from there, with the most significant blow coming at the 8:25 mark. UMD knocked down a 3-pointer and then cashed in on a pair of free throws following a loose ball foul, giving them a lead of eight points at the time. They outscored AU by one the rest of the way to bring the game to its final score.
The Vikings look to bounce back Saturday night on the road, heading to the Twin Cities for a 5:30 tip-off against Concordia-St. Paul.
–GoAugie.com–
