Tayvian Johnson's dunk in the first 15 seconds set the tone as Augustana knocked off Division I Bradley. Augustana athletics photo by Ian Magnuson

Junior Hunter Hill fired in a game high 18 points to help lift Augustana to a 58-56 exhibition game victory over NCAA Division I Bradley on Nov. 6 at Carver Arena. The Vikings, ranked third in D3hoops.com preseason Top 25, never trailed in the contest.

Hill was the lone Augustana player in double figures as he hit six of his 14 shots from the floor, including two of six from 3-point range and was 4-of-5 from the free throw line. The smallest guy on the floor, Hill also grabbed six rebounds and led the team with five assists.

The largest lead for the Vikings was 12 points with 11:06 left in the first half when Ben Ryan sank a pair of free throws. The margin was 33-29 at halftime and in the second half the visitors had one double-digit advantage at 15:42 by the score of 42-32.

Coming out of intermission Bradley cut the lead to three points (35-32) at 19:06 and then the Vikings countered with a 7-0 run to bump it to 42-32 on a free throw by Tayvian Johnson.

Down the stretch the Braves cut the lead to three (52-49) at 1:21 on a 3-point field goal by Warren Jones but senior Mark Roth drained a 3-point field goal at :49 to make it 55-49. Bradley trimmed it to 55-51 with 37 seconds remaining on a tip-in by Donte Thomas.

Hill's two free throws six seconds later made it a six-point edge but Omari Grier nailed a pair of free throw with 24 seconds left to trim the lead to 57-53. After an Augustana turnover Bradley cut the margin to one point (57-56) on a 3-point field goal by Thomas.

With three seconds left senior Danelius Jurgutis hit one of two free throws to account for the final margin.

While Hill led the visitors in scoring with his 18 points, Johnson added nine before fouling out late in the second half. Ryan had eight points and junior Jake Norcia had six.

Bradley got 17 points from Grier and 14 from Warren Jones. The Braves held a 37-34 edge in rebounding with Jermaine Morgan grabbing eight. Augustana's rebounding leader was Hill with six while Ryan and junior Griffin Pils each had five.