SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- UND forward Chad Mustard knew the game was in reach.
With 10 minutes, five seconds to play in the second half, Mustard was fouled on a shot attempt. He clenched his fists tight to his chest, looked over to coach Rich Glas who was doing the same, and said "I had it, I had it."
Not this time.
Mustard made one of the free-throw attempts, then scored three more points in a 6-0 UND run that gave the Sioux a 68-61 lead with 7:34 to go. But that wasn't enough. Not here. The last two games here between these two North Central Conference teams each went to overtime. Augie won the first, UND won last year, and this year it was the Vikings' turn to win a close game. It didn't quite go to overtime, but Augustana still won 83-81.
"We knew it would go to down to the wire, it usually does here," Glas said. "That (seven-point) lead wasn't big enough."
Augustana slowly cut into the Sioux lead, then, at the 3:03 mark, Augie's Bobby Johnson drilled a three pointer to cut the UND lead to one point, 77-76.
"That three by Johnson was a huge basket for them," Glas said. "They made some good shots at the end of the game."
Kyle Behrens tipped in a Chad Mustard miss to give the Sioux a 79-76 lead, but the Vikings' Nate White made four consecutive free throws to give Augie an 80-79 lead with just under two minutes to play. White had 11 of his 13 points in the second half, eight of which came in the final five and a half minutes.
"They stepped up and hit some tough shots at the end," Mustard said. He had a game and career-high 33 points. "I missed some shots that I have always made, and they made theirs."
Said Glas: "We kept going to the well. They couldn't stop Mustard, and our guys did a good job of getting him the ball."
Mustard got the ball with eight seconds to play, and hit one in the lane to bring UND within one, 82-81. After fouling Roman Evans and one made Evans free throw, the Sioux had one last chance.
UND rebounded Evans' second attempt at fired the ball up to Hunter Reinke. Reinke glanced up at the clock, looked to take a shot, then passed to a streaking Marcus Travis as time expired.
"I looked up and thought I saw a four or a five on the clock," Reinke said. "I just hesitated, then saw Marcus was open. But I should have shot it. It's one of those things you think about for a long time afterwards."
The loss was the second of the weekend for the Sioux, as they dropped one to South Dakota State on Friday.
Mustard finished with 33 points and 11 boards, Travis had 12 points and Reinke had 10 points.
| UND (81) | |||
| Name | FG | FT | Points |
| Mustard | 12-23 | 9-13 | 33 |
| Travis | 4-12 | 2-2 | 12 |
| Behrens | 4-5 | 0-0 | 8 |
| Berg | 3-10 | 0-1 | 7 |
| Jacobson | 0-2 | 3-4 | 3 |
| Larson | 2-3 | 0-0 | 4 |
| Ristvedt | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Reinke | 3-8 | 3-4 | 10 |
| Badding | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Totals | 30-67 | 17-24 | 81 |
| Augustana (83) | |||
| Berg | 3-10 | 6-6 | 14 |
| Hilgenberg | 1-2 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Welk | 5-9 | 7-9 | 17 |
| White | 3-8 | 6-6 | 13 |
| Evans | 3-7 | 3-4 | 8 |
| Johnson | 2-2 | 3-4 | 8 |
| Cotta | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Burnison | 3-7 | 2-3 | 9 |
| Gaulke | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Ruda | 2-2 | 4-4 | 8 |
| Homan | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 22-52 | 31-36 | 83 |