Box Score ELMHURST, Ill. - John Baines' Elmhurst men's basketball team scored its signature win of the 2014 season with an impressive 83-74 victory over 13th-ranked Augustana College.

Elmhurst (15-3, 5-2 CCIW) trailed just twice in the opening minutes of the contest before taking control and leading for the final 37:30 of the game. The game nearly mirrored Wednesday night's win over Carthage as the Bluejays' once again led by as many as 22 points in the second half before holding of a late Augustana run to preserve the win.

Leading by 13 at the break, the Bluejays opened the second half on a 12-3 run to grab a 48-26 lead just four minutes into the half. Elmhurst led by 18 points with less than nine minutes to play, before Augustana scored six straight points to pull to within 12 points with 8:20 remaining.

Elmhurst pushed its lead back up to 16 points on a pair of Taylor Baxter free throws with 5:11 left on the clock, but Augustana refused to go away, using a 12-5 run over the next 2:30 to pull to within nine points on a pair of Hunter Hill free throws.

A Kyle Wuest jumper from the free throw line put Elmhurst back on top by double digits, and after an Augustana turnover, Pat Coleman hit a breakaway lay-up to give the Bluejays a 13-point cushion with 1:53 remaining.

Augustana scored seven straight points on five free throws and a Nic Hoepfner put-back, closing to within six points with 36 seconds left to play, but it was too late as the Bluejays hit four straight free throws to put the game out of reach.

Elmhurst built its big lead with a series of runs in the opening half. Leading by just a point early, the Bluejays used a 12-3 run to take a 17-7 lead midway through the half. Augustana used a 10-2 run to pull to within two points, but the Bluejays responded with an 8-0 to re-establish the 10-point lead at 27-17. The Vikings came as close as six points with 4:26 to play, but the Bluejays finished the half with a 9-2 burst to lead 36-23 at the break.

The Bluejays' trio of guards of Coleman, Baxter and Wuest combined for 54 points and eight three-pointers as the Bluejays shot a season best 57.7 percent (30-of-52) from the floor while limiting Augustana to 30.8 percent shooting (20-of-65). Elmhurst connected on 9-of-17 attempts from three-point range and ran well in transition, outscoring Augustana (15-3, 5-2 CCIW) 19-4 on the fast break.

Coleman poured in a season-high 21 points while shooting 8-of-9 from the floor, and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc to lead the Bluejays in the win. Baxter dropped in 18 points and a team-leading five assists while Wuest shot 7-of-11 to score 16. Nick Sanford also reached double figures in scoring, tallying 12 points to go along with a team-leading eight rebounds.

Hill led Augustana in the loss with a game-high 24 points, shooting 5-of-7 from downtown. Hoepfner added 15 points and nine rebounds while Mark Roth scored eight for the Vikings.

Elmhurst hosts Wheaton College on Wednesday, January 29.