Rock Island, Ill. – The Carroll University men's basketball team won their second straight CCIW game, knocking off Augustana 74-70 in tightly contested battle. The Pioneers shot 40.4%, 36% from three, and 71.9% from the free throw. Aaron Wafford led the way for the Pioneers scoring 22 points, while going 6-10 from the arc.

The Pioneers (10-6, 3-4 CCIW) forced 12 turnovers, grabbed 45 rebounds, and had 14 assists in the contest. Kobe Simpson continued his success scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Evan Bland had a strong performance himself scoring 11 points and snagging six rebounds.

Carroll struggled with Augustana's zone early on as the Vikings took an early 10-0 lead, forcing a early Pioneers timeout. Out of the time, Carroll would look to start chipping into the lead but would struggle getting baskets to fall. An Augustana layup would give the Vikings a 7-18 lead with 11:34 to go in the half. The two teams would continue to battle, but the first half was all Augustana as they would get fouled on three-pointer and make all three free throws to take a 15-point lead. Carroll would respond with a Wafford three and Eckahelo Simpson layup to make it 16-26 lead with 5:27 to go in the half. The Vikings would go on another 6-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 16. Carroll wouldn't be able to gain any momentum in the final four minutes of the half and find themselves down 24-37.

The Pioneers came out of the half and started to play their style of basketball once again. Looking to get into a rhythm; shots from Wafford, Justin Steinike, and Jacob Naber allowed the Pioneers to cut the lead to five just four minutes into the half, forcing an Augustana timeout. Carroll continued to put the pressure on Augustana as back-to-back Wafford three pointers tied the game at 45-45 with 12:59 to play. After climbing back from the 13-point deficit at the half, Carroll had a chance to take their first lead of the night. They did just that on following possession, Wafford would draw a foul on a jump shot and make both free throws to take a 47-45 lead. The two teams would continue to trade baskets until a Bland layup and Kobe three would give the Pioneers a 56-52 lead with 6:33 to play. Carroll wouldn't look back as they forced the Vikings out of their zone and continued to get stops. Tyler Miller would make four straight free throws to give the Pioneers an eight-point advantage with just 5:37 left to play in the game. Carroll would continue the offense and find themselves up 67-57 with 2:39 to play. Augie wouldn't give in easily as they would force multiple turnovers and cut the lead to 71-70 with just 0:36 seconds to play. Bland and Lamar Smith would make their free throws down the stretch and allow the Pioneers to walk away with a 74-70 victory.

Carroll is back on the road for their third straight game against Carthage on Wednesday, January 17, at 7 PM.