The season for the Augustana men’s basketball team is starting to wind down after an 101-76 win at home against the Wheaton College Thunder on Wednesday, Feb. 19. This comes six days after the team’s thrilling 60-58 win against Elmhurst University at home that went down to the final seconds. After the most recent stretch of games, the Vikings’ record sits at 15-9 overall and 8-7 in conference play.
This was a season of widespread improvement for the Vikings, though the work is certainly not over. Even with two games left, the team’s 15-9 overall record and 8-7 conference record have surpassed last year’s 9-17 overall and 6-10 in conference. Senior Evan Ambrose, who played on the team last year, recognizes a few of the factors that have helped the team.
“Age and experience always play a huge role. Not just the feeling of ‘been there, done that,’ but having some of those in conference battles,” Ambrose said. “Gameplans from our coaching staff also prepared us for almost every game this season. I think those are the two biggest things. Our age and experience, and credit to our coaching staff.”
The Vikings faced a massive test at home when they faced Elmhurst. Both teams were tied for fourth place in the conference, and the losing team would move down to fifth place. In the first half, Augustana’s defense held the Blue Jays offense to 29 percent shooting from the field and had a plus-seven rebounding advantage. Despite the Vikings only shooting 34 percent, they carried a double-digit lead into the break.
While the team pushed the lead to 16 in the second half, Elmhurst fought back and eventually took a three-point lead with 1:43 left. Ambrose’s bucket and a pair of free throws helped clinch the game for the Vikings, breaking a trend of struggling to hold leads in the second half. Senior Mikey Hamilton was aware of that trend but now believes this win was crucial in breaking it.
“That’s been kind of our history,” Hamilton said. “We’ll play a great first half, and then we won’t come out too hot in the second half. I feel like [that] night was the turning point of that historical trend. It shows our growth from when we first came here as freshmen to now, but it also shows the room we have to grow.”
With that win, the Vikings solidified their opportunity to finish with a winning record for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, when the team finished 7-5 overall and 6-4 in conference play. A part of this shift was spurred on by Head Coach Jordan Delp, who is wrapping up his first full season as the head coach of his alma mater.
“Our two core tenants here, the Augie ego ‘team first,’ and the Viking rule of ‘no excuses get it done,’ has helped us continue to make strides throughout the year,” Delp said. “I think for the senior class in particular, we talked a lot about their opportunity to reestablish a standard here that leads to sustained winning and sustained success, and I’m seeing those things come to fruition as we come down the stretch.”
After the win against Elmhurst at home, Augustana sits in sole possession of fourth place in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW). If the team can hold onto fourth place, they will have an opportunity to host a home conference tournament game. Augustana last hosted a home game in the tournament in the 2020-21 season, when the team defeated Carthage College 109-107 in overtime.
In previous years, home games at the Carver Center would have a raucous atmosphere that has helped the team have a 548-146 record all-time in the gym. Though the program has struggled since the 2020-21 season, senior Chase Larsen believes a home game in Carver could bring back that magic if given the chance.
“When Carver’s packed, there’s something that we call Carver magic, and Carver magic normally goes in the Vikings’ favor,” Larsen said. “It would solidify a lot of the hard work and struggle we’ve put in these past years.”
