Rock Island, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team was not able to completely erase a 21-point deficit, falling to Augustana, 68-73.
Tarren Hall scored 24 of his 26 points in the second half, with four rebounds and two steals.
Justin Steinike led with six rebounds to go along with his 18 points.
The Pioneers (4-7, 4-7 CCIW) shot the ball fairly well, but Augustana shot better, as the Vikings finished shooting 60.4% from the field. Carroll capitalized on 13 Augie turnovers, collecting six steals and 18 points as a result. The men collected nine offensive rebounds leading to nine points, with
Carter Sturgeon (10 PTS, 3 REB) collecting three of them.
Josh Hudgens (4 PTS) and Hall started the game with baskets within the first minute, but Augie soon took over, running up the score to 11-6. Steinike went coast to coast twice, scoring four points to cut the lead to one with 15:27 remaining in the first half.
Ryan Mendoza (8 PTS) hit a step-back jumper to give the men the lead, with Sturgeon extending the lead by four on a three-point shot. Augie tied the game at 8:41 but Steinike answered with a three-pointer to keep the Pios up. The Vikings went on a 15-2 run that was halted by a Steinike three-pointer with :45 remaining in the half. The Vikings took their 10-point lead into halftime after a 41-point first half.
Augustana continued to have the momentum to start the second half, beginning an 11-2 run through the first seven minutes. Hall connected on a three-pointer soon followed by another Steinike three to try and cut into the lead with 12:57 remaining. The Vikings led by 21 points at 7:34, forcing
Paul Combs to call a time out. Sturgeon came out of the break with a three-point play, igniting the offense. The Pios ended on a 22-6 run, led by Hall scoring 16 straight Pioneer points. The Pios were down three after Hall's driving layup with 1:14 remaining, the Pios got a stop on the defensive end, but could not get a shot to fall in the final seconds. Augustana went to the free-throw line with nine seconds reaming and advanced the lead to five. The Pios turned the ball over in the final seconds.
The men will soon learn their seeding position in the CCIW Conference tournament to start next week but will first play a fill-in game against Millikin on Tuesday in Decatur. The Pios are 6-2 against the Big Blue since rejoining the conference in 2016-17.
