SIOUX FALLS, S.D.--The No. 6 Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team dropped a hard fought game to No. 4-ranked Augustana 97-80 on Saturday evening in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play. Augustana's lead was never more than seven in the second half until they pulled away with just under six minutes to play. The heavyweight matchup was the first time in school history the Dragons played a game where both teams were ranked in the top ten since its move to Division II in 1995.

With the loss, the Dragons fell to 25-2 on the season and 16-2 in the NSIC. Augustana improved to 23-1 and 17-1 in the NSIC with the win.

Junior forward Isaac Sevlie led the team in scoring with 17 points and had two blocks in the game. Senior guard Jordan Riewer had 15 points in the contest, while leading the team in assists with five. Junior guard Tyler Vaughan led the team in rebounds with seven, scoring 17 points in the game. Sophomore forward Aaron Lien also scored in double digits for the Dragons, scoring 14 points.

Augustana jumped out to a 7-2 lead early in the game as Alex Richter scored five of the game's first nine points. The Dragons cut the lead to three points on four different occasions in the first half, but the Vikings responded with a 10-2 run to push the lead back to 11 at 38-27 with 5:47 left in the half. The Dragons responded with a run of their own, shredding the lead to one after a layup from Vaughan made the score 44-43 with 56 seconds left in the half.

Two three-pointers in the first two possessions of the second half from Lien and Vaughan gave the Dragons a 49-48 lead early in the second half. Between the 19:01 and 5:08 points of the second half, the difference was never more than seven points as both teams traded baskets up and down the court. The Vikings prevailed in the end, finishing the game on a 24-7 run, grabbing its 16^th consecutive victory this season.

MSUM will return to action next Friday when it hosts Minnesota Duluth on Friday and St. Cloud State on Saturday. Tipoff on Friday is scheduled for 8 p.m. from Alex Nemzek Fieldhouse.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: The Dragons entered this weekend ranked #1 in the country (all NCAA) in Assist to Turnover Ratio with 2.05. Including tonight, the Dragons have had more assists than turnovers in every game this season with the exception of last night's 86-65 win at Wayne St. where the Dragons had 8 helpers and 14 miscues. Prior to last night, the last time they had failed to have this stat on the plus side was when they had only 9 helpers to 15 miscues, during their 70-53 loss to Winona St. on Mar. 3, 2014 in Sioux Falls, in the NSIC semi-finals.