WAUKESHA, Wis. – The Carroll University men's basketball team dropped its second-straight conference home game to Augustana College by a score of 61-72 on Saturday evening in Van Male Field House. Josh Hudgens finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-10 shooting including four made free throws. Justin Steinike grabbed 12 rebounds and finished with nine points and five rebounds as well.
 
The Pioneers (4-10, 0-5 CCIW) are still searching for that first CCIW victory of the season. Carroll shot the ball well, finishing at just over 41% shooting from the floor, but 13 second-half fouls gave Augustana plenty of opportunities at the free-throw line. The Pioneers out rebounded the Vikings with 37 boards, including 11 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second-chance points. Carroll's bench led by Hudgens and followed up by Trenton Nickel (9 PTS, 3-3 3PM) outscored the Augustana bench 36-20. After scoring 35 points in the first half, Carroll finished with just 26 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
Augie jumped out quickly to an 11-point lead and a 13-2 run in the first half, but Carroll began to cut into the lead thanks to six straight points from Hudgens in under two minutes. Nickel knocked down two three-pointers and a layup from Steinike tied the game with 10:41 left in the first half. Carroll would not see its first lead of the game until Paradiso Dante's (4 PTS, 3 REB) free throw gave the Pios a 23-22 advantage with 6:16 remaining. Carroll ended the first half on an 8-4 run to take a three-point lead into the break.
 
Ryan Mendoza (4 PTS, 1-8 FGM) knocked down his first basket of the game in Carroll's first possession of the second half, but Augustana soon tied the game two minutes later. The Pios were able to thwart off Augie's advances with responsive baskets from Hudgens, Nickel, and Kobe Simpson. The Vikings finally cracked the deficit and took a one-point lead with 8:38 remaining in the game. Aaron Wafford (10 PTS, 6 2^nd Half PTS) tried to help Carroll's case to cut it to one with 5:21 remaining, but the Vikings knocked down three three-point baskets the remaining time. With Carroll's foul trouble, the Vikings finished 9-14 at the free-throw line in the second half.
 
Carroll's next contest will be the rescheduled game against Carthage College, which has been moved to Wednesday, January 10 at 5 PM in Waukesha.