The Bluejays' win was also the team's first league opening win since the 2002-03 season. Elmhurst's 11th straight win is one shy of the 2000-01 squad’s school record of 12 straight victories.
Bluejay guards Brian Lee and Ryan Burks totaled 44 points on a combined 15-of-19 shooting to lead the Bluejays to the win.
Elmhurst stormed out to a commanding 43-29 lead at the break. The Bluejays broke open a 6-6 game with a 15-3 run to take a 12-point advantage with 12 minutes to play. Augustana fought back with a 10-1 run to pull to within three with 8:50 remaining.
Elmhurst quickly reestablished its big lead, closing the half on a 21-10 run. Burks netted his third trey of the half with time winding down to give the Bluejays the 14-point halftime edge.
It looked as though the Bluejays would run away it early in the second half, as Elmhurst opened on a 16-7 run to take a 23-point advantage with 14:30 to play.
Augustana fought back and used an 8-0 run to pull to within 15 with just under 11 minutes to play. Elmhurst built its lead back to 17 points with 8:30 remaining, but the Vikings made a late surge to get back into the game. Seven points from Jordan Delp keyed a 10-0 Augustana run to bring the Vikings to within seven points at 67-60 with 5:30 left on the clock.
Back-to-back buckets from Nick Michael and Burks pushed Elmhurst's lead back to 11 points. A pair of Augustana 3-pointers sandwiched between a Mike Sayre lay-up brought the Vikings back to within seven points with 3:30 left to play.
A breakaway lay-up by Michael gave the Bluejays a nine-point lead and Elmhurst sealed the game by hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the game’s final two minutes.
Elmhurst shot 56.6 percent (30-of-53) from the floor and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from beyond the arc. The Bluejays hit 17-of-25 attempts from the foul line (68 percent).
Augustana shot 46.0 percent (23-of-50) from the floor and 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from long distance. The Vikings converted 16-of-22 attempts from the foul line.
The Bluejays committed a season-low six turnovers while Augustana turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 24 Elmhurst points.
Lee led all scorers with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He also dished out a team-high six assists. Burks finished 6-of-7 from the field, with his only miss being a long-range heave as the shot clock expired. He finished with 20 points and was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Elmhurst also received strong play from its big men. Michael poured in 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting while grabbing six rebounds. Brent Ruch added eight points and six boards.
Augustana was led by Pat Brusveen's 15 points. Brusveen finished 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Delp added 14 points while Drew Wessels finished with nine points and six assists. Dain Swetalla added eight points in the loss.
Elmhurst travels to 17th ranked Carthage College on Wednesday, January 10.