Augustana men's basketball beats Upper Iowa to get within one win of Elite 8

Against Upper Iowa, this wasn’t the kind of game Augustana coach Tom Billeter had come to expect.

In previous meetings, the Vikings and Peacocks had been known to catch fire on the offensive side of the ball, but Sunday’s battle was different.

After all, the season was on the line.

Tyler Riemersma had a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the top-seeded Vikings locked down defensively to pick up a 65-60 victory over No. 4 seed Upper Iowa in an NCAA Division II Central Region semifinal at the Sanford Pentagon.

“To hold a team that offensively talented to 33 percent for a game, that’s how we go,” Billeter said. “I’ve said from Day 1 with this team, we guard and we rebound. If you do those two things, you’re going to be in most of your games.”

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The win sends Augustana into Tuesday’s championship game where it will take on third-seeded Northwest Missouri State with a trip to the Elite Eight hanging in the balance.

“I think we’ll have a great crowd,” Riemersma said about Tuesday’s game. “Students are coming off spring break here, so I think we should get a lot larger crowd for students. I think that’ll be big.

“This is a big game for the whole community.”

Vikings led 33-24 at halftime

Augustana (26-3) fell behind early on before rattling off 12 straight points to take a 12-4 lead when Adam Dykman converted a layup with 15:30 remaining in the opening half.

Upper Iowa (26-6) pulled back within three points when a layup by Joe Smoldt made it a 14-11 game with 13:57 to go in the half, but that was as close as the Peacocks were able to get before halftime.

The Vikings held the visitors to just 32.4 percent (11 of 34) from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 2 of 13 (15.4 percent) from 3-point range.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” Billeter said about Upper Iowa. “I thought our length on the perimeter helped us defensively. To hold a team like that, as good as they are, to 4 of 24 from 3, that’s probably the biggest difference in the game.”

Augie scored the final five points of the period and took its biggest lead of the game at the break, 33-24.

But things changed in the second half.

The Peacocks opened the second half with a 12-4 swing that ended when Jareese Williams sank a pair of free throws at the 14:43 mark.

“I thought we defended well enough to win the game in the first half,” Upper Iowa coach Brooks McKowen said. “We held them in the 30s, and that’s our goal. I told them, ‘Shots will fall. Baskets will go. We’re too good for them not to. We’ve done it all year long, and we’ve got confidence in each other.’”

However, Augie never relinquished its lead and never allowed Upper Iowa to tie things up the rest of the way. The Peacocks drew within a single possession four times, the last of which came with 5:27 to go in the game when Jake Hilmer was fouled and knocked down three free throws to make it a 54-51 game.

With 1:36 remaining, Smoldt hit a pair of free throws to pull the Peacocks within 64-60, but Augustana’s defense held solid to close out the game, with the Peacocks unable to convert their final five baskets.

Augustana one win away from Elite 8

Dykman also had a double-double for the Vikings, finishing with 11 points and 12 boards before fouling out with less than two minutes remaining.

Riemersma also picked up a crucial third foul with 12:26 to play, forcing Billeter to go to his bench for some much-needed support.

Billeter said he was pleased with what he saw off the bench from Akoi Akoi and Bennett Otto, who provided 15:22 and 11:34, respectively, on the floor.

“Give our bench credit because we did keep them on the bench longer than I ever wanted to, but we had to keep them on there for a little bit,” Billeter said. “As long as they didn’t get the lead back, I wasn’t going to put them back in.”

Isaac Fink and Jameson Bryan added 15 and 10 points, respectively, for Augie, which finished 40.3 percent (25 of 62) from the floor, including a 42.9-percent clip (14 of 33) in the first half alone. The Vikings shot 13 of 18 (72.2 percent) from the charity stripe.

As a team, Augustana outrebounded Upper Iowa 44-37.

“They’re one of the best rebounding teams in the country for a reason,” McKowen said about the Vikings. “Riemersma is a monster down there, but it wasn’t because of effort on our part by any means. I thought we fought all night. I thought we battled. He’s going to get some, that’s just what he does.”

Smoldt had 18 points to lead the way for the Peacocks, while Hilmer chipped in 17 points.

Upper Iowa was 18-4 in conference play this year, splitting a pair of matchups against Augustana in the process. It landed the Peacocks second place in the NSIC South Division and earned them a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

“This group changed our program,” McKowen said. “We’ve had some good teams before this team got here, but they took us to another level.”

For Augie, the attention now turns toward Northwest Missouri State, which knocked off Washburn 70-55 to advance to the final. The Bearcats are 30-5 on the season and are led by junior guard Trevor Hudgins, who’s averaging 23.0 points per game.

“They have a culture of winning at this time of the year, and I really respect them for that,” Billeter said about Northwest Missouri State. “We do, too, and I think it’s going to be a great basketball game. I’m really looking forward to it. … I hope we have a great crowd. I think you’re going to see two excellent teams getting after each other."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Augustana men's basketball beats Upper Iowa in Division II tournament