BOX SCORE

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – No. 18 Augustana shot 52.6 percent and connected on nine 3-pointers to earn an 83-66 victory over Southwest Minnesota State on Friday night in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener for both teams.

Cameron McCaffrey scored a season-high 21 points on 8 of 13 shooting for the Vikings (4-1, 1-0 NSIC), the preseason pick to win the NSIC.

SMSU (1-3, 0-1 NSIC) was led by Jordan Miller with 12 points while Matt Zager and Vinard Birch each added 11 points.  Nick Smith and Williams Giddings each finished with seven rebounds to pace the Mustangs.

The Vikings held a 39-28 rebound advantage and outscored SMSU 18-2 in second-chance points.

Drae Murray, a senior NCAA Division I transfer from Sam Houston State, added 15 points for the Vikings with three 3-pointers.

The lead changed nine times in the game's first 10 minutes with SMSU holding a slight 18-17 advantage.  Augustana then used a 14-1 run over the next 2:20 following the media timeout to build a 31-19 lead.

SMSU responded with a run of its own, cutting the margin to 35-31 with 2:24 on the clock, before the Vikings closed out the half on a 10-2 run to take a 45-33 lead into halftime.

The Mustangs scored the first three points of the second half, but then went scoreless for the next four minutes, allowing the Vikings to extend the lead to 58-36 with 15 minutes left in the game.

Augie held a 67-48 lead before SMSU's Trent Carlson drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the deficit to 67-54 at the 8:56 mark.  SMSU scored just four points in the next five and a half minutes as the Vikings pushed the lead to 77-58 with 3:35 remaining to seal the victory.

SMSU finished the game shooting 44 percent (25 of 57) from the field but was just 5 of 15 from 3-point range. 

Southwest Minnesota State continues its opening NSIC road weekend tomorrow night taking on Wayne State at 6 p.m. in Wayne, Neb.