Toby Uecker

With a 94-76 victory over Augustana College Saturday afternoon, the South Dakota State men’s basketball team is one game closer to the North Central Conference title.

The Jacks, who led 49-47 at the half, were able to pull away after the break, shooting 65 percent (13 of 20) from the field in the second half.

SDSU made 58 percent (29 of 50) of their field goal attempts and shot 33-of-43 from the free throw line. They also out-rebounded the Vikings 46-34.

Despite the Jacks’ advantages in those categories, the Vikings were able to come from a 12-point deficit to within five in the second half.

Augie’s second-half shooting was just nine of 36 from the field, 25 percent. The Vikings shot 23-of-70, 32.9 percent for the game.

Augie reserve Shane Burnison was able to score 20 points for the Vikings in front of a sold-out home crowd of 4,006 at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls.

Leading the Jacks in scoring was freshman Matt Jones with 17 points, all scored in the first half. The four other Jacks in double figures were Chris Stoebner with 15, Austin Hansen with 14, Josh Cerveny with 13 and Andy Moeller with 10.

This weekend’s win means SDSU needs only one more win to secure a tie for the conference title. Now 19-3 for the season and 13-1 in conference games, the Jacks will close out their regular home season next weekend with games against the University of Northern Colorado Friday and the University of Nebraska-Omaha Saturday.

UNC is the one conference team that has defeated SDSU this season, doing so in a Jan. 19 game in Greeley, Colo.

Augustana fell to 5-9 in the conference and 12-10 overall.