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Press Release

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ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — In a season where adversity has become a constant companion, the Augustana Vikings overcame it in a big way on Saturday, March 1 with a 71-60 victory over Illinois Wesleyan in the championship game of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin. Head coach Grey Giovanine’s team has battled all year long and the heroes have come from some unlikely candidates.

Saturday night, in the Carver PE Center, another chapter was written in this improbable success story as Justin Bertrand roared off the bench to score 13 points and snare 11 rebounds. Bertrand, who was almost a forgotten man early in the year, was pressed into big-time service when starting center Dain Swetalla was unable to log even a single second of playing time. Swetalla was suffering from a wrist injury suffered the night before in a 69-68 semi-final win over Elmhurst.

Bertrand hit four of five field goals and five of six free throws and he also contributed an assist. Alex Washington led the Vikings in scoring with 14 points while Matt Pelton dropped in 11 points and dished out eight assists.

Augustana trailed only early in the game and built up an 11 point lead (32-21) with 2:02 before intermission. Illinois Wesleyan scored five points in the final :43 to trim the margin to 32-26 at intermission.

In the second half the Vikings led by 10 (51-41) with 9:36 to play after a basket by Bertrand. However, Jordan Morris’ three pointer with 7:33 left cut the gap to three (51-48). It was still a three point game with 5:05 left when Washington scored on a jumper to make it 58-53. Washington scored again at 4:25 to make it a seven point margin Augustana made seven of eight free throws in the final 1:18 to keep the Titans at bay.

Sean Johnson led Illinois Wesleyan in scoring with 15 points while Darius Gant dropped in 14.

The Vikings won the rebounding battle with a 42-35 margin as Dan Rukavina pulled down seven and Chandlor Collins added six.

Augustana, which just a week earlier clinched its third straight outright CCIW title, won the conference tournament for the second consecutive season. The Vikings, ranked ninth in NCAA Division III, are now 22-5 overall while Illinois Wesleyan bows out at 16-11.

Press release submitted by Augustana on Mar 01 2008 at 11:21 PM

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