Vikings Sail Away From Titans

Nationally ranked Augustana College (Ill.) withstood UW-Oshkosh's superb shooting in the first half and went on to secure a 77-64 men's basketball victory over the Titans on Wednesday (Nov. 30) in Rock Island, Ill.

Augustana College, ranked 17th in the NCAA Division III by D3hoops.com, took control with a 26-10 scoring run during a stretch of more than 10 minutes that provided the Vikings a 73-60 lead with 2:18 remaining.

UW-Oshkosh, playing its fifth consecutive road game to open the season, shot 66.7 percent (12-18) from the field in the first half but just 36.4 percent (12-33) during the second.

Augustana College (5-1) has won all 10 meetings with UW-Oshkosh (2-3), including a 67-65 decision last season in Wisconsin Dells.

Dylan Sortillo led Augustana College with 20 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor. Jacob Johnston added 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Vikings, who also received 14 points from Brett Benning, 10 points from Pierson Wofford, and eight points, five assists and three steals from Nolan Ebel.

Charlie Noone and Brett Wittchow paced UW-Oshkosh with 20 points apiece. Noone, who added five rebounds, matched his career-high point total by knocking down 6 of 9 shots from the field and all seven of his attempts from the free throw line. Wittchow, who eclipsed his previous career high of 18 points, went 7-for-14 from the floor, including 3-for-7 from 3-point range.

AJ Mueller contributed eight points off the UW-Oshkosh bench while Max Schebel led the team with five rebounds and three assists.

Augustana College concluded the contest with advantages in field goal percentage (.549 to .471), 3-point field goal percentage (.462 to .278), rebounds (27-25), assists (16-14), turnovers (19-15), blocks (5-2) and steals (12-4).

The Vikings won the opening tip, and Johnston dunked home the first points after collecting a lob pass from Chrishawn Orange just nine seconds into the game.

Wittchow tallied the next five points on the first two UW-Oshkosh possessions, and the Titans reclaimed a 7-6 advantage on a layup by Sam Johnson.

A basket from Noone extended the UW-Oshkosh lead to 14-8 with 14:49 to go in the opening period, but Augustana College knotted the score at 14 on a layup by Orange, who finished the game with seven points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

A jumper by Sortillo gave the Vikings a 23-21 edge it would not relinquish until the second half. Wofford pushed the Augustana College lead to 38-33 with 68 seconds remaining in the first half, but a layup by UW-Oshkosh's Taylor Jansen on the ensuing possession trimmed the Titans' deficit to 38-35 at intermission.

The teams combined to shoot 63 percent (29-46) from the field during the opening half, including a 60.7 percent rate by Augustana College. However, UW-Oshkosh committed 12 turnovers in the first period, including eight on steals by the Vikings.

UW-Oshkosh took the lead for the first time in more than 14 minutes at 46-45 on a steal and layup by Kyle Bolger with 15:04 to play. A jumper by Noone upped the Titans' advantage to 50-47 at the 12:20 mark, but a 3-pointer by Benning tied the score at 50 and a jumper by Sortillo gave the Vikings the lead for good at 54-53 with 8:32 remaining.

Benning tallied 11 points and Sortillo eight during the Vikings' 26-10 scoring run. Augustana College converted 7 of 9 field goal attempts and 9 of 11 tries from the free throw line during the surge while UW-Oshkosh shot 3-for-14 from the floor and committed three turnovers until a jumper by Wittchow cut the Titans' deficit to 73-62 with just over two minutes to play.

The Titans pulled within nine points at 73-64 on a basket by Noone with 88 seconds to go, but UW-Oshkosh missed its final four field goal attempts, and the Vikings secured the victory by making all four of their free throws over the final 49 seconds.

Both Augustana College and UW-Oshkosh played in last year's NCAA postseason tournament. The Vikings advanced to the quarterfinal round while UW-Oshkosh was eliminated in the first round.

UW-Oshkosh will conduct its home opener against Calvin College (Mich.) on Saturday (Dec. 3) in Kolf Sports Center.