ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Elmhurst men's basketball team dropped to 16-3 overall and 6-2 in the CCIW after falling 97-84 to Augustana College in a battle of a pair of top-10 squads.

Elmhurst, ranked sixth in the latest D3hoops.com poll, was even with Augustana (18-1, 7-1 CCIW) at 47-47 at the half, but the Vikings used a 13-0 run in the second half to pull away for the win. The two squads were whistled for a combined 50 fouls and shot a combined 68 free throws.

The first half featured hot-shooting teams as the two teams combined for 94 points in the game's opening 20 minutes. Elmhurst grabbed an early 6-3 lead after Erik Crittenden knocked down a jumper, but Augustana responded with the next nine points to double up Elmhurst at 12-6. The Vikings led by as many as eight points on three occasions in the first half, but Elmhurst slowly whittled the lead down to just two points and tied the score at 35-35 after a pair of free throws from Brandon Schwebke.

A three-point play from Eric Leonard gave the Bluejays a 38-37 lead, their first in over 14 minutes of action. The Vikings opened up a four-point cushion at 42-38 after four straight free throws, but a Kenny Payonk jumper and a pair of Leonard free throws tied the score at 42-42 with 1:38 left. With Augustana leading 47-45, Eric Leonard hit a 15-foot jump shot with 20 seconds left to send the game to the locker room all square at 47-47.

Leonard scored 13 points for the Bluejays in the opening half, including the final seven points of the half for Elmhurst. Bryant Ackerman added 11 points and six rebounds in the opening first half. The two teams went to the free throw line a combined 31 times, with each teams just missing two. The Bluejays hit 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) while Augustana shot 15-of-17 (88.2 percent) from the stripe.

Augustana, ranked second in the latest D3hoops.com poll, built an early five-point cushion in the second half only to see the Bluejays even the score at 69-69 after a layup from Erik Crittenden with 9:22 left. The Vikings broke the game open with a 13-0 run over the next 3:30, taking advantage of Elmhurst fouls and hitting eight free throws in the stretch.

Elmhurst broke a nearly four-minute scoring draught with a pair of free throws from Kenny Payonk to bring Elmhurst to within 11 points. Elmhurst came as close as seven points with just over a minute to play after a layup from Ackerman, but the Vikings were able to put the game away from the foul line, hitting 5-of-6 attempts in the final minute to pull away for the 97-84 victory.

The Bluejays finished the contest shooting 46.6 percent (27-of-57) from the floor, including 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from downtown. Elmhurst shot 84.6 percent (22-of-26) from the foul line in the loss. After committing 12 fouls in the opening half, the Bluejays were whistled for 16 in the second half, sending Augustana to the line 25 times in the game's final 20 minutes.

Four Bluejays reached double figures in the loss with Ackerman leading the way with a team-high 19 points. Ackerman connected on 3-of-7 from downtown and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in the loss. Leonard finished with 16 points while shooting 5-of-9 from the floor in the loss. Crittenden added 12 points while Kyle Wuest scored 12, including 10 in the second half. Will Nixon and Peyton Wyatt added eight points apiece for the Bluejays.

Augustana finished the contest shooting over 50.0 percent from the floor. The Vikings knocked down 28-of-52 shots to finish at 53.8 percent for the game. The Vikings were solid from the charity stripe, hitting 35-of-42 attempts to shoot 83.3 percent for the contest.

Seven Vikings reached double figures in scoring in the win. Ben Ryan paced the team with 18 points, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor. Jawan Straughter added 16 points while Hunter Hill, Brandon Motzel and Tayvian Johnson scored 14 points apiece. Griffin Pils (11) and Chrishawn Orange (10) also reached double figures for the Vikings in the win.

Elmhurst hosts Millikin University on Saturday, January 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.