Augie claims 3rd straight CCIW title
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staff report | Thursday, February 28, 2008 |
NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Augustana coach Grey Giovanine didn’t talk to his team about history before Saturday night’s season-ending contest at North Central.
But the ninth-year coach spent a lot of time discussing it after his Vikings beat the Cardinals 63-59 to win their third straight outright College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship.
Augie (20-5, 11-3) became the first team to accomplish the feat since North Park from 1978 to 1980.
“As I told our team, this is the first time this has happened in 30 years,” Giovanine said. “We didn’t talk about that going into the game, but afterward I shared that with them: You guys just had the most successful run in the conference in 30 years.
“I couldn’t be more excited for our team and our program.”
North Central (10-15, 4-10) didn’t make it easy on Augie, which shot just 30 percent from the floor — including 1-for-11 from the 3-point line — in the first half.
Augustana was behind
27-26 at the half and trailed for 39 minutes, 5 seconds of the game, according to Giovanine. With 3:28 to play, the Vikings trailed by six.
But Matt Pelton hit a clutch 3-pointer with 1:06 left to play, his only bucket of the game in 31 minutes, and Augustana came up with two big stops after that to clinch the victory.
Augie shot 58 percent in the second half and made 3 of 5 3-pointers.
“We don’t have a superskilled team,” Giovanine said. “There are times when it’s not easy for us to score. We got better shots in the second half, and our defense really anchored us.”
Augustana opens CCIW Tournament play Friday against No. 4-seed Elmhurst at 8 p.m. at the Carver PE Center in Rock Island.
Men
Grand View 73, St. Ambrose 60: Grand View’s Reggie Hoegh, Pat Hoberg and Rohan Greaves each scored 18 points to lead the Vikings to a season-ending victory over St. Ambrose.
The Bees (12-18, 7-9 Midwest Classic Conference) will begin league tournament quarterfinal play Wednesday.
Women
Grand View 47, St. Ambrose 44: Jenny Clark missed two 3-pointers in the final seconds, and St. Ambrose lost its second league game of the season.
Clark, the Bees’ leading scorer, was 1-for-16 from the field and
0-for-12 from the 3-point line. As a team, the Bees shot 3 of 22 from beyond the arc.
SAU (25-5, 14-2) will enter the league tournament, which begins Thursday, as the No. 1 seed.
Elmhurst 78, Augustana 74: Augustana trailed by 11 at halftime but outscored Elmhurst
36-29 in the second half to nearly knock off the 4th-place Bluejays (12-13, 8-6 CCIW).
Augie finishes its season at
5-20 overall and 3-11 in the CCIW, while Elmhurst is one of four teams to advance to the league tournament beginning Friday.
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