ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Junior Jawan Straughter converted two free throws with five seconds left Saturday and Augustana survived DePauw's attempt at a game-tying buzzer-beater, advancing to the round of 16 in the NCAA Division III Tournament with a 68-66 win over the Tigers at Carver Center. Coach Grey Giovanine's sixth-ranked Vikings improve to 24-4 on the year and advance to face Mount Union in the round of 16 on Friday, March 13 at a site to be determined. DePauw ends its season at 20-10.
A pair of Luke Lattner free throws with four minutes left capped a 9-4 Tiger run and put the visitors up 65-60. Juniors Ben Ryan and Griffin Pils answered with baskets to get Augustana within a point and Lattner split two free throws attempts to make it 66-64 DePauw with 2:35 to play.
After a couple of empty possessions by each team, Ryan drove the lane and dished to junior Brandon Motzel, who converted the layup to knot the score at 66-all with 36 seconds left. After running the clock down under 10 seconds, the Tigers attempted to enter the ball to 6' 9" Tommy Fernitz in the post. Motzel got around Fernitz and tipped the ball out of bounds, setting up a DePauw inbounds play under the Viking basket.
After a Tiger timeout, Bradley Fey attempted to lob to Fernitz, but Motzel defended it well and Straughter came away with the loose ball and was fouled by Bob Dillon before he could drive for the potential game-winner. Straughter calmly knocked down both ends of the one-and-one to give the hosts a 68-66 lead, their first since the six and a half minute mark.
Lattner took the ensuing inbounds pass and went the length of the floor, but his runner from the left side wedged between the rim and backboard as the clock expired.
Not surprisingly, the contest was close throughout. Augustana went up 6-0 early on a three-pointer by Pils and a conventional three-point play from junior Hunter Hill. DePauw came back to take its first lead at 15-13 on a bucket by Fernitz. A layup by Fey with 7:12 to play in the half gave the visitors their biggest lead of the night at 22-16. The Vikings responded with an 18-4 run capped by a steal and bucket by Hill to take their biggest lead of the game at 34-26. Fey's 30-footer just before the buzzer cut Augustana's lead to 34-29 at halftime.
The Tigers scored on their first six possessions of the second half to regain the lead 41-39. Four of those baskets came from Fernitz, who finished with a game-high 21 points. The final 16 minutes of the contest would see four ties and nine lead changes.
Hill led Augustana with 16 points and four assists. Pils added 15 points. Ryan scored 11 to go with a team-high seven rebounds and senior Nic Hoepfner added 10 points. Straughter had a game-high four steals, to go with seven points. Motzel, playing with a broken left hand, was key in slowing down Fernitz in the second half, helping hold him to just two points in the final nine minutes. Lattner and Connor Rich each scored 12 for DePauw.