by ABERDEEN, S.D. — South Dakota Mines continues to struggle offensively as they couldn’t get much going on that end of the ball and give up 82 points in its’ 3rd straight loss.
Despite scoring the first four points of the game, the Hardrockers couldn’t get their offense going early for the second straight game, trailing 28-12 at the under-10 media timeout with 9:34 remaining in the first half. The Hardrockers would continue to struggle throughout the remainder of the first half until a late spurt would cut the deficit to 42-28 going into halftime.
To start the second half, Alejandro Rama (Oglala Lakota) would keep up his hot start, hitting a three to cut the Augustana lead to 42-31. At the first media timeout of the second half, the Hardrockers trailed 49-36 but the offense was significantly improved over the first three halves of the weekend. After a technical foul on the Hardrockers, Augustana would expand the lead to 18, but South Dakota Mines would cut the deficit back down to 13, trailing 58-45 with 9:39 to go. Two free throws by Kolten Mortensen, a forced turnover, then a free throw by Brevin Walter cut the Augustana lead to 10. The Vikings would continue to keep the Hardrockers out of arms’ reach, however, up 64-52 with 6:29 to play. Augustana would not let the Hardrockers get any closer, pulling away for a 82-58 victory to send South Dakota Mines home with its’ 3rd straight loss.
