Augustana comes back to eliminate Tarleton in quarterfinal

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Tarleton senior point guard Michael Hardge scored a career best 26 points in what proved to be a career-ending loss to Augustana Wednesday.

Augie scores 57 in second half, including 26 from foul stripe

By BRAD KEITH

TheFlashToday.com

FRISCO (March 23, 2016) — Alex Richter poured in 32 points and No. 2 Augustana (32-2) erased a 10-point second-half deficit to beat No. 7 Tarleton (24-9), 86-79, in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight at Dr Pepper Arena Wednesday night.

It’s the second time in four trips to the Elite Eight that Tarleton was defeated in the quarterfinal round. They advanced to the semifinals in 2005, lost in the quarterfinal in 2006 and reached the semifinals again last season. They were the only team to stand among the final eight nationwide each of the last two seasons.


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Tarleton led 48-38 early in the second half, but Augustana outscored the Texans 48-31 the rest of the way, and much of that damage was done by Richter, who scored 18 after halftime.

Augustana used a 9-1 run to quickly eat into the double-digit Tarleton advantage, the largest for either team the entire game. The Vikings were 26-31 from the foul stripe in the second half after going 5-11 before intermission. Tarleton was 11-19 for the game. There were 28 fouls called against the Texans, just 16 against Augustana.


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Tarleton led 37-29 at half before Augustana scored 56 points and the Texans 42 in the second half.

Michael Hardge 26 points to become the 16th Texan to reach 1,000 in a career. He also dealt seven assists. Chantz Chambers scored 16 for the Texans, 11 of them before halftime. EJ Reed scored 13 before fouling out.

Other big scorers for Augustana were Casey Schilling with 17, Zach Huisken 13, Adam Beyer 12 and Jordan Spencer 10.

Augustana advances to face Western Oregon or Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) in a semifinal at 8:30 p.m. Thursday. The other semifinal between Lincoln Memorial (Tenn.) and West Liberty (W.Va.) tips off at 6 p.m. The championship is set for 2 p.m. Saturday.


Below are updates up to the Final Media timeout


 

Augustana 73, Tarleton 70 at 3:29/2

Augustana is on a 11-2 run to take the lead, mostly from the free throw line. Tarleton has been on the wrong end of several close calls including a pair of tie balls and a missed travel that led to Augie free throws.

Tarleton 68, Augustana 62 at 7:20/2

It’s been back and forth, Augustana with a lot of 3-pointers,  but Hardge offsetting them with a 2-for-2 trip to the line then a step-back right wing 3-pointer for Tarleton.


 

Tarleton 53, Augustana 47 at 11:47/2

Augustana got back in it with a 9-1 run to pull within two, but Tarleton has answered the challenge with four straight points – a driving deuce by Jenkins and two foul shots by EJ Reed. A series of bad possessions by Tarleton offensively – including a shot clock violation – led to the Augustana charge.


Tarleton 48, Augustana 38, 15:45/2

Michael Hardge hit a second-chance 3-pointer and EJ Reed didn’t need a second chance to drain one from the top of the key. The suddenly outside efficient Texans have their largest lead of 48-38.


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Tarleton 37, Augustana 29, half

Nosa Ebomwonyi picked a good time to hit his first shot, and Jakob Damstra picked a good time to resume his stellar rebounding and defensive efficiency off the bench, and that was the key the final three minutes of the half for Tarleton.


 

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Ebomwonyi buried a left wing 3-pointer off an assist from Hardge, his sixth assist of the half, with 24 seconds on the clock. Augustana missed a 15-foot jumper at the other end, Damstra grabbed his fourth first half board to go with a thunderous block, kicked the ball out to Hardge and the senior point guard just missed about an 80 footer, bouncing it off the right side of the rim and the glass.

Both teams are shooting 42 percent from the floor, but Tarleton is 8-16 from the arc. Neither team is shooting free throws well, Tarleton just 3-7 and Augustana just 5-11. Tarleton has outscored Augustana off the bench, 8-2, but the Vikings have all five of the fast break points and a 12-8 margin in the paint despite the absence of All-American center Dan Jansen.

First half photos

By RUSSELL HUFFMAN:

Russell #1 IMG_2176

By JESSIE HORTON:

TSU Web_MG_3386 TSU Web_MG_3372 TSU Web_MG_3370 TSU Web_MG_3361 TSU Web_MG_3357 TSU Web_MG_3347 TSU Web_MG_3320


 

By CHET MARTIN

Michae Hardge chet Tipoff Chet

 


 

Tarleton 29, Augustana 25 at 3:25/1

Xavier Smith just scored an athletic put back after an offensive board to give Tarleton a four-point lead. Augustana goes to the line out of the break, as Alex Richter was fouled going up in transition. Chantz Chambers leads Tarleton with 11, while Richter tops Augustana with nine.


 

Tarleton 25, Augustana 19 at 7:14/1

Tarleton had an 8-0 run that overlapped the last media timeout. It concluded with a Ro Jenkins tip in for a 22-17 lead. Riddick has since buried a 3-pointer for the Texans, who have turned up the dial defensively.


 

Tarleton 17, Augustana 17 at 11:28/1

The hot shooting has continued with Tarleton and Augustana even at 17-17 with 11:28 on the first half clock. Chambers has added a third 3-pointer for Tarleton, who has committed six of the first seven fouls in the game.

Chambers has 11 points, also adding about an eight-foot bank shot on an aggressive attack from the right side.


 

Augustana 9, Tarleton 7 at 15:44/1

It’s been about 3-point shooting early on. Alex Richter has hit two for Augustan, which leads 10-9, with 15:44 to play in the first half. Chantz Chambers has hit two 3-balls for Tarleton and Malcolm Hamilton added one.

Augustana All-American center Dan Jansen was not in the starting lineup but is suited out with his injured left foot heavily taped. He suffered the injury in a pre-Elite Eight practice on Tuesday.


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