Men’s Basketball qualifies for NSIC tournament despite loss against Wayne State

On Saturday Feb. 20, The men’s basketball team, who’ve gone 9-6 this season, lost to Wayne State 82-70. Despite this loss, they still placed in the No. 4 seed in the NSIC tournament, with Wayne State (11-4, NSIC 11-4) claiming the NSIC South Division Title.

“We played a very good defense as our offense was not very good,” head coach Tom Billeter said. “We let their pressure bother us a bit.”

The Vikings were at a 3-point advantage midway through the first half, with 25-22. However by halftime, Wayne State took the lead with a holding of 42-33.

“We were playing and moving the ball on offense,” senior forward Tyler Riemersma said. “We were hoping to take this momentum and build on our lead going into halftime.”

Though in the second half of the game Augustana shot with 59% accuracy, Wayne State took a heavy lead of 16 points to claim victory at 82-70.

Because the University of Sioux Falls (7-5, NSIC 5-5) lost against Southwest Minnesota State (win-loss, NSIC win-loss) in overtime, Augstana was able to qualify in the NSIC tournament.

“We would definitely have liked to finish higher in the division, but we are excited to have made the NSIC Tournament and for the opportunity to continue playing,” Riemersma said.

Despite the loss, Riemersma put together a season-high 22 rebounds (10 were offensive).

“Rebounding has always been an area I have excelled at and one of the major areas I can contribute to help our team win,” Riemersma said.

Riemersma is also looking forward to the opportunity to continue playing in the NSIC tournament.

The Augustana men’s basketball team will play this Thursday at the Sanford Pentagon versus Northern State University at 4 p.m.