Vikings fall in the First Round of the NSIC Men’s Basketball Conference Tournament

The No. 2 seeded Vikings fell to the No. 7 seeded University of Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles 87-72 at the Sioux Falls Arena Wednesday night.

After a 24-3 run by the Golden Eagles to start the second half, the score was 66-39 with 14:25 left to go.

“We came out a little bit flat, I thought we missed a lot of good shots,” head coach Tom Billeter said. “You know, we just didn’t play well.”

Augustana wasn’t able to get much going on offense, shooting only 35 percent from the field. The Golden Eagles shot 53 percent for the night and a blistering 69 percent from behind the arc.

The Vikings fought hard to get the lead back down to 13 at the 6:48 mark thanks to a 3-pointer from freshman guard Dylan LeBrun. But that was the closest it would get.

Right after LeBrun’s 3-pointer, a desperate shot from the 3-point line banked in as the shot clock buzzed and sealed the deal for the Golden Eagles. Redshirt junior guard/forward Malcolm Cohen made the shot while falling back, bringing the score to 87-62.

The Vikings end their season with an 18-11 record, a regular season NSIC South Division Co-Championship, and according to their coach, a bright future.

“The future is bright as can be, no doubt,” Billeter said. “It’s a special group.”