Waukesha, Wis. – The Carroll University Pioneers men's basketball team came away with their first home victory of the season against the Augustana College Vikings, by a score of 65-52.
Ryan Mendoza scored a game and season-high 17-points with three rebounds.
Tarren Hall pulled in seven rebounds with 14 points and two blocks.
The Pioneers (4-6, 4-6 CCIW) relied on strong shooting in the paint and opportunities at the free-throw line. The Pios outscored the Augie Vikings 32-16 in the paint. Mendoza led the way at the free-throw making eight of eight, and Hall making five of his seven. The Pios collected seven steals off 13 Viking turnovers, including three steals from
Justin Steinike (14 PTS, 6 REB). The Pios struggled with foul trouble in the second half but walked away without any foul outs.
The Pios quickly led 5-2 in the opening minutes thanks to a Hall three-pointer, but Augie closed the gap and tied the game at 7 apiece with 15:21 remaining in the first half. The Pioneers did not hold a lead for five minutes, but
Carter Sturgeon (2 PTS, 3 AST) made a layup in the paint to go up one. Mendoza knocked down a three-point jump shot off a
Justin Gruber (7 PTS, 2 AST) dime to go up four. A scoring lull was ended by a Steinike pull-up jump shot outside of the paint to go up six points into halftime.
The Pios did not let the Vikings lead at all in the second half. The men worked the lead up to eight capped off by a Gruber pull-up three-point jumper. Mendoza scored the next two baskets off turnovers and finished in the paint to go up 12 with 15:11 remaining in the contest. Augustana cut the lead to single digits, but Steinike responded coming out of a timeout with a jumper outside the paint. The Pioneers led by 17, their largest lead of the game, after a three-point basket by
Ethan Balinao (7 PTS, 3-4 FGM) with 3:18 remaining. Augustana moved to the offense/defense and foul game, but was unable to maintain a run, sending Mendoza to the charity stripe multiple times to ice the game.
The men will play away against Augustana for the final game of the regular season before the conference tournament. The last time these two teams were in Rock Island, Illinois, the Pios took the No. 24 team in the nation to overtime in a heartbreaking loss.
