No. 4 Augustana outlasts No. 1 UWW in 2 OT

More news about: Augustana
Dec 10, 2014
Hunter Hill went 7-for-10 and 7-for-11 from inside it.
Augustana athletics photo

A week ago Wednesday night, the Augustana men's basketball team was at a low point, losing on the road to Central, a team picked to finish in the bottom half of the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

On this Wednesday, however, the fourth-ranked Vikings welcomed top-ranked UW-Whitewater to Rock Island, Ill., and gave Division III an instant classic, outlasting the top-ranked Warhawks 96-94 in double overtime. 

Hill hit a 3-pointer to put Augustana (7-1) up by seven with just under five minutes left in regulation, but the Warhawks scored the next 10 points, capped by Bryson Drew's jumper to make it 74-71. Danielius Jurgutis hit a pair of free throws and Quardell Young answered with one of two to make it a 75-73 lead before Hill's bucket tied it at 75.

Whitewater led most of the way in the first overtime before Hill hit one of his seven 3-pointers with 23 seconds left to tie it at 82-82. After KJ Evans hit a pair of free throws to give the Warhawks the lead again, Hill hit another shot to tie the game and send it to a fourth period. 

Hill hit a long 3-pointer to open the second overtime, among the seven points he had in the second extra session, and Augustana held on down the stretch to win. He finished with 41 points on 14-for-21 shooting, including 7-for-10 from 3-point range. Evans and Young each finished with 22 for the Warhawks (6-2).

Devan Gregory scored 27 points and Simeon Howard added 21 as Greensboro gave Division I UNC-Greensboro everything it could handle before falling 82-78 in front of 3,652 on Wednesday afternoon in the Greensboro Coliseum. The Pride leapt out to a 17-5 lead and were up for most of the first half, then rallied to tie at 75-75 late in the game before falling.

In a meeting of two teams no longer coached by Mike Neer, Hobart won in the Palestra at the University of Rochester for just the sixth time in the 70-plus seasons the Yellowjackets have called it their home. Andrew Hoy and Jake Rayburn made key plays down the stretch as Hobart won 71-61. Rochester leads the series 105-29 and has a 45-6 advantage in the Louis Alexander Palestra.

John Carroll got longtime coach Mike Moran his 400th career win, as the Blue Streaks defeated Ohio Northern 97-78. Jake Hollinger scored 20 points as JCU shot 56 percent from the floor in improving to 4-1. The Blue Streaks are 3-0 in the OAC for the first time since 2006-07. Moran, in his 23rd year at John Carroll, entered the season 35th among active Division III coaches in wins.

Wednesday women: Warhawks win

In women's action, UW-Whitewater handed No. 9 Wheaton (Ill.) its first loss of the season as the teams combined for just two points in the final 210 seconds of the Warhawks' 66-63 win. UW-Whitewater came into the day at just 2-5, with losses to George Fox, DePauw and UW-Oshkosh, all ranked in the Top 16. 

Brooke Trewyn and Lisa Palmer had 14 points apiece to lead the Warhawks, with Palmer added 13 boards and five assists in the win.

Second-ranked Amherst extended its home winning streak to 102 games, cruising past Rhode Island College 74-35. Ali Doswell led all scorers with 19 as RIC, which went 20-9 last year, fell to 2-7 on the season.

Jenna Anderson hit two free throws with eight seconds left to lift UW-La Crosse to its first WIAC victory of the season, 56-54 over UW-River Falls.