Swetalla picked up the scoring slack from leading scorer Rick Harrigan who was held to just 10 points, down from his season average of 24.6. Three other Augustana players were also in double figures with Jay McAdams-Thornton and Pat Brusveen each had 12 and Mike Kolze added 10.
The Vikings led 42-30 at halftime after shooting .600 (15-25) from the floor in the first 20 minutes of the game. A 17-1 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half gave them a 69-41 lead when McAdams-Thornton drilled a jumper with 9:36 left in the game. That effectively ended the contest as Augustana ran its record to 10-0, which is tied for the best start in school history with the 1972-73 team that also started 10-0.
Augustana shot .600 for the game (33-55) from the floor and connected on .591 (13-22) from three point range as well as making nine of 12 free throws. Throw in a 37-27 advantage in rebounding and mix in the fact that Marian shot just .345 (20-58) from the field and the rout was obvious. All 14 players suited up for head coach Grey Giovanine’s team played and 10 of those scored. Dain Swetalla, the starting center in the first four games of the year before injuring his ankle on November 30 in a victory over St. Ambrose, saw his first action in nearly a month. He played nine minutes, scored four points, grabbed two rebounds and had an assist.
Jake Harmsen led Marian, which fell to 4-8, in scoring with 15 points while Titus Redmond had 14 points and a team high seven rebounds.
The victory sets up a classic championship game match with host Wisconsin-Stout, which is currently ranked 11th in NCAA Division III, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 29. The Blue Devils advanced to the championship game with an easy 85-63 win over St. Scholastica.