Augustana Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked 15th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, won its seventh straight game by defeating 18th-ranked Augustana College 65-63.

The win by the Bluejays kept Elmhurst at the top of the CCIW standings with a 7-2 record.

The Bluejays built an 11-point (21-10) first half advantage, but a 12-0 run by the Vikings gave Augustana (15-6, 6-4 CCIW) a 22-21 lead with four minutes to play in the half. Elmhurst was able to retake the lead before the half, and led 28-26 at the break.

In the second half, the Bluejays slowly built a 54-44 lead with 7:25 to play, before an 11-2 run by Augustana pulled the Vikings to within a point (56-55) with 2:25 remaining. A jumper by Robert Strzemp gave Elmhurst a 58-55 lead with two minutes to play. After an Augustana turnover, Ryan Burks knocked down a trey with 1:39 left on the clock to give Elmhurst a 61-55 lead. After an Augustana miss, Burks hit a pair of free throws to give Elmhurst a 63-55 lead with 1:05 left.

Augustana's Alex Washington hit a bucket and a free throw to chop Elmhurst's lead down to five points with 58 seconds left. After a turnover by Elmhurst, Washington hit his second straight 3-point play to pull the Vikings to within two points with 48 seconds left on the clock.  After an Elmhurst miss with 12 seconds to play, Augustana's Brian DeSimone missed a shot with Brent Ruch grabbing the rebound for the Bluejays. Ruch hit both free throws with 4.8 seconds left to give the Bluejays a 65-61 lead. The Bluejays allowed DeSimone to drive the distance and hit a lay-in with less than a second to go to cut Elmhurst's lead down to two points. Elmhurst was able to to inbound the ball and run out the clock and escape with the 65-63 victory.

Elmhurst shot 44.0 percent (25-of-56) from the floor, including 30.0 percent (6-of-20) from downtown. Augustana finished the game shooting 41.9 percent (26-of-62) from the field, and 30.0 percent (3-of-10) from beyond the arc.

The Vikings won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Elmhurst 38-31, including a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass.

Ruch led Elmhurst with his third straight double-double, totaling 21 points and 11 rebounds. He blocked two shots to become Elmhurst's all-time career leader in blocks with 95. Strzemp added 12 points and five assists in the win, while Burks and Dustin Bainter each finished with 11 points apiece.

Augustana was led by Washington's 13 points. Justin Bertrand and Chandlor Collins scored eight points apiece in the loss. Collins added a game-high 13 boards.

Elmhurst will look for its eighth straight victory on Saturday, February 7, when the Bluejays travel to Millikin University.