SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Concordia University men's basketball team (8-10, 5-9 NSIC) couldn't keep their momentum going as a struggling Augustana College (11-7, 8-6 NSIC) squad came alive on their home court, beating the Golden Bears 89-70 in Friday night Northern Sun action at Elmen Center. Augustana buried 10 three-pointers in 14 attempts, shot 57.4% from the floor and made nine of their 10 free throws in an impressive shooting display. BOX SCORE

Concordia was coming off of back-to-back wins for the second time this year, while the Vikings were 2-8 in their last 10 games entering play.

Concordia countered with solid shooting of their own for the night, but midway through the second half as Augustana had mounted a game-high 28-point lead, Concordia had reached the foul line just twice (1-2) and was only 2-9 from long distance. Augustana countered at that point in the game with 8-11 three-point shooting and perfect 8-8 free throw shooting.

The Golden Bears were able to whittle the lead down under 20-points when their offense became more aggressive, reaching the foul line 13 times in the last eight minutes of play. They finished the game 13-15 from the stripe, 52.9% from the field but made only three of their 12 three-pointers.

Senior Peter Olafeso (St. Paul, Minn.) led Concordia with 20 points, shooting 7-13 from the floor and 5-5 at the line. He added five assists and a pair of steals. Senior Brent Barz (Johnston, Iowa) added 18 points, six rebounds and three steals inside. He also had a pair of assists, going over 100 for his three year career.

Outside of the All-NSIC duo, no one else scored more than seven points and senior Kenny Olafeso (St. Paul, Minn.) was held in single digits for the first time all season.

The Vikings were led by their three usual leading scorers who combined to make 18 of their 30 field goal attempts including seven out of nine from behind the arc. Drae Murray and Cody Schilling each scored 18 points while Cameron McCaffrey had 13. The trio also had eight of the team's 10 assists.

Although it appeared Augustana had the upper hand for most of the first half, it seemed as if every time the Vikings made a run to push their lead into double-figures, Concordia would answer by bringing the game back to two possessions.

Until it was 34-28 Vikings with just under five minutes to play in the opening frame. Augustana then closed out the half with authority, outscoring Concordia 19-3 to claim a 22-point halftime lead. More specifically, it was a 15-1 run that catapulted the lead from eight points to 22 points in a four minute span.

The lead remained 19-plus the rest of the way. Concordia never led in the game that featured four first half ties, the last coming four and a half minutes into the opening period.

The Golden Bears and Vikings split the season series, with Concordia moving on to face Wayne State tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. at Rice Auditorium.