Two free throw shots from junior guard Jawan Straughter with five seconds left of the game lead the Augustana Vikings to defeat the DePauw Tigers 68-66 on March 7 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.
DePauw had the chance to tie it up with three seconds left, but only succeeded in getting the ball stuck between the rim and the backboard. Both Coach Grey Giovanine and his players agreed they had never seen anything like it before at Augustana’s Roy J. Carver Center.
“It was kind of like the Whitewater game,” said junior Griffin Pils, referring to Augustana’s win against University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in December, “but times three probably.”
Augustana began the game with a 5-0 lead, but DePauw held on despite missing many of their free throws. The Vikings continued their lead to 13-10 half way through the first half. Two three-point shots by Pils and junior Hunter Hill, along with a two-handed block by senior Brandon Motzel, gave Augustana a lead of 34-29 at the half. Many speculated on whether or not Motzel would play due to his surgically-repaired left hand, but Motzel held his own.
“There really wasn’t any way that I wasn’t gonna play,” said Motzel.
The second half began with DePauw making two quick layups and continuing to outscore Augustana 12-5. Augustana held on with a three-point shot by Straughter bringing them to a 47-43 lead.  After DePauw began to pull away, 2 free throws and a lay-up by Pils brought the Vikings to a score of 64-65. A steal and a shot by Motzel with 39 seconds left tied the game at 66-66.
“Every guy knows what to do on the court and Motzel showed that,” said Hill.
The rest of the game was left to Straughter with his game-winning free throws.
When asked how the Vikings were able to pull through such a tough game, Giovanine replied “We’ve been there before, but everyone stayed composed…It wasn’t until the last three to four minutes that we locked down defensively.”
The two teams had only met once before during the 1993 season when Augustana beat DePauw 79-66 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.  Augustana will go on to the Sweet 16, the winner of a four-team group including Mount Union (22-6), Neumann (17-10), Calvin (21-6), and Oswego State (19-9).
After being crowned the CCIW tournament champions last weekend against Illinois Wesleyan University, receiving the No. 1 seed and the first round bye in the tournament, the Vikings are keeping their momentum going.
“To survive a game like this, that bodes well,” said Giovanine.