ELMHURST, Ill. – Jake Rhode scored a game-high 34 points, but the Elmhurst men's basketball team could not overcome a poor shooting night, falling to #2 Augustana 92-79.
 
Despite its shooting woes, Elmhurst (9-6, 4-2 CCIW) was within two possessions of Augustana (14-1. 6-0 CCIW) with six minutes left in regulation before the Vikings pulled away for the 13-point win.
 
The two teams traded buckets early in the first half, matching three-pointers at every turn. Augustana opened up a six-point cushion following a Pierson Wofford jumper with 12 minutes to play, but Elmhurst rattled of the next seven points to move in front 22-21 just past the midway point of the first half. Augustana led 31-27 with six minutes to play when Jake Rhode hit a three-pointer and was fouled in the process. A technical foul on Augustana's bench put Rhode at the free throw line. Rhode hit two free throws to give Elmhurst a 32-31 lead with 5:30 left to play.
 
Augustana followed with a 12-0 run to open up an 11-point cushion with just over two minutes remaining. Elmhurst scored the next six to pull to within five, but a three-pointer at the buzzer from Joe Kellen gave the Vikings an eight-point cushion (48-40) at the half.
 
Augustana pulled away in the second half, opening the first five minutes of action on a 14-1 run to extend its lead to 21. Elmhurst went the first 6:30 of the second half without a bucket. Elmhurst slowly fought its way back into the contest, using a 21-6 run over the next 10 minutes to pull to within six points with six minutes remaining. Augustana managed to push its lead back to 10 points. The Bluejays trimmed the deficit down to eight points with two minutes left, but came no closer as the Vikings sealed the win from the foul line.
 
Augustana outshot Elmhurst 58.0 percent (29-of-50) to 35.7 percent (20-of-56) in the contest. The Vikings were red-hot in the opening half, shooting 70.8 percent (17-of-24) from the floor and 75.0 percent from three-point range (9-of-12). The Vikings finished the contest shooting 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from beyond the arc while Elmhurst hit just 25.8 percent (8-of-31) of its three-point attempts.
 
Rhode led Elmhurst and all scorers in the loss, finishing with a game-high 34 points while shooting 9-of-17 from the floor. He hit 13-of-18 free throws while also pulling down a team-best seven rebounds. Derek Dotlich added 13 points and five rebounds while Lavon Thomas came off the bench to score 12 and collect five rebounds. Nick Perry chipped in with seven points for Elmhurst.
 
Five players reached double figures in scoring for the Vikings. Nolan Ebel and Brett Benning led the way with 18 points apiece. Chrishawn Orange and Pierson Wofford chipped in with 17 points each while Lucas Simon came off the bench to score 11.
 
Elmhurst hosts Wheaton College on Saturday, Januar 12, at 7:30 p.m.