Augustana Box Score

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking loss, falling 56-55 to Augustana College in the game's closing seconds.

Elmhurst (9-3, 0-1 CCIW) seemed to have the game in hand, leading 55-46 with three minutes to play. However, Augustana (11-2, 2-0 CCIW) closed the game on a 10-0 run to pull off the 56-55 come-from-behind win.

Augustana's Jordan Delp hit a 3-pointer with 2:12 remaining to cut the Bluejays' lead down to six points. Elmhurst led by six with 1:06 remaining, but missed the front end of a one-and-one with Augustana grabbing the board. Matt Pelton converted a three-point play with 57 seconds left to bring Augustana to within three points at 55-52.

The Bluejays turned the ball over on their next possession, and Augustana's Alex Washington hit a jumper with 22 ticks left on the clock to pull the Vikings to within one point.  Another Bluejay turnover gave Augustana the ball back with 14 seconds. Pelton was fouled with eight seconds to play and hit both free throws to put the Vikings on top.

Elmhurst had a chance in the closing seconds as Dustin Bainter drove the length of the court and fired a jumper from the free throw line that bounced out. The ball rolled out of bounds to the Bluejays with two seconds' left. Ryan Burks' baseline jumper at the horn was no good as the Bluejays fell short.

Elmhurst outshot the Vikings 48.1 percent (25-of-52) to 37.7 percent (23-of-61). Both team shot only 4-of-16 (25 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Bluejays had a 37-32 edge on the glass.

Brent Ruch led Elmhurst and all scorers, finishing with a game-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Burks finished with 10 points while Chris Childs came off the bench to score nine.

Pelton led the Vikings with 13 points while Justin Bertrand finished with 12. Jordan Delp added nine points.

Elmhurst will look to bounce back from the loss on Saturday (January 10) by hosting Millikin University at 7:30 p.m.