No. 2 Augustana University defeated No. 3 Western Oregon 74-55 on Thursday night at Dr Pepper Arena to advance to the NCAA Division II National Championship game for the first time in program history.
The Vikings (33-2) will play No. 1 Lincoln Memorial in the national championship on Saturday, March 26, at 2 p.m. (CT) on CBS.
Daniel Jansen, who missed the first game of his career in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, came off the bench and sparked the Vikings with eight straight points to tie the game early. He finished the game with 13 points on 4 of 6 shooting, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc.
Augustana had four players in double-figures in the win. Casey Schilling led the Vikings with 17 points and nine rebounds. The nine rebounds gave Schilling 330 in his career which is a new single season record at Augustana.
Adam Beyer put up 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists hitting 5 of 7 from the field. Jordan Spencer dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds. Alex Richter scored 15 points and matched his career-high with nine rebounds. Augustana out-rebounded Western Oregon 48-30 and had five players with five or more rebounds. Zach Huisken added six points and matched his career-high in rebounds for the second straight night with eight. Augustana raced out to a 34-19 halftime after a slow start. The Vikings finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field, hitting 25 of 53. Augustana knocked down 7 of 19 3-pointers and shot 87 percent (21 of 24) from the free throw line.
