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Senior guard Sharif Black topped 20 points for the second straight night as Bemidji State University men’s basketball fell to Augustana University, 92-66, Saturday at BSU Gymnasium. Black scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field, as the Beavers fall to 10-12 overall and 7-10 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Vikings improve to 13-10 overall and 8-9 in the NSIC.

Both teams opened the night red-hot from the field, as the game saw its first eight field goals go in. Bemidji State chipped in its first six shot attempts of the night, including four 3-pointers, to go up 16-8 three minutes into play. Augustana followed with a 9-1 run to tie the game, 17-17, while both teams stayed within one possession of each other until 6:37 in the half. The Vikings took its two-possession lead of the game while the Beavers brought it down to three points twice, but Augustana went on a 9-0 run to put Bemidji State in a 48-38 deficit at the halftime buzzer.

The Vikings began to pull away early in the second half, gaining a 14-point, 52-38 lead just a few minutes in. The Beavers went on a 7-0 run just after to trail 52-45, but couldn’t come any closer as the hot shots that fell in the first half became cool in the second. Augustana iced the game with a 24-2 run to take its largest lead of the night, 89-59, with just over three minutes left in the game.

Black led all BSU scorers, followed by sophomore guard Jai’Vionne Green with 12 points and freshman forward Derek Thompson with 11. Bemidji State finished the night shooting 40.4 percent from the field, 32.3 percent beyond the arc and 58.8 percent from the free throw line. Augustana outrebounded Bemidji State, 45-29, and put in 25 second-chance points compared to five for BSU.

Bemidji State returns to BSU Gymnasium to close out the 2017-18 home schedule with a weekend doubleheader Friday, Feb. 9 against Northern State University and Saturday, Feb. 10 against Minnesota State University Moorhead.