ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The No. 4 ranked UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team (3-1) led for the first 37 minutes in Rock Island, but No. 5 Augustana (4-1) hit a running layup with 1.8 seconds left in overtime for an 86-84 win over UWSP.
 
Nate Dodge (East Troy, Wis./East Troy) led all players with 40 points for the Pointers.  He went 9-for 14 from behind the arc, one shy of his own school record for made three-pointers.  He added five rebounds, a steal and an assist.
 
Canon O'Heron (Bangor, Wis./Bangor) added 20 points for UWSP.  He also had four boards, two assists and a steal.
 
Dodge hit back-to-back threes to open the game and O'Heron hit a jumper to give UWSP an 8-0 lead.  Drew Fredrickson (Mount Horeb, Wis./Mount Horeb) hit a three to halt a 6-1 run by the Vikings.  Dodge hit another three with 9"23 remaining in the first half for a 19-11 advantage.
 
Thirty seconds later, Blake Ehrke (Deerfield, Wis./Deerfield) nailed a three to extend the lead to 10 at 22-12.  Dodge drained two more long balls to push the advantage to 29-18 with 6:40 remaining in the half.  Dodge's sixth three-pointer of the half with 3:00 left kept the lead in double figures, but AC closed to within 38-32 at the half.
 
O'Heron opened the second half with a bucket, but the Vikings scored nine of the next 12 points to get within 43-41.  Ethan Bublitz (Jackson, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran), Dodge and O'Heron combined for a 6-0 UWSP run to push the lead back to eight.  Following an AC bucket, Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove) drilled a three for a 52-43 lead with 12:16 remaining in regulation.
 
Nelson hit another three at 9:43 to stop a six-point spurt by the Vikings. Six-straight points by Dodge extended the advantage back to eight a 61-53.  O'Heron scored back-to-back buckets for the Pointers for a 69-61 lead with 4:14 to go, but the Vikings rattled off eight-straight to tie the game.  Dodge hit another three as UWSP forged ahead with 2:11 left.  With the game tied at 73-73, Fredrickson took the potential game-winner with seven second left, but the shot didn't go and the game went to overtime.
 
A minute into the extra session, Augustana got its first lead of the game on a pair of free throws.  O'Heron tied the game on the next possession.  After two more free throws by the Vikings, Mark Nelson (Madison, Wis./Monona Grove) answered with a bucket to re-tie the game. With 1:32 left in overtime, Dodge hit another three to give UWSP an 80-79 lead.  AC answered with a three and Bublitz hit both free throws to tie it at 82-82. 
 
Augustana took the lead again on a basket with 35 seconds left.  On the ensuing possession, Dodge was fouled on a three-point shot, but made just two of the three free throws for an 84-84 tie with 15.5 seconds to go.  Augustana held for the final shot and Nolan Ebel hit a running layup with 1.8 seconds left for the game-winner.  UWSP saw its in-bound pass intercepted to end the game.
 
The Pointers return home to face UW-Superior on Saturday (Dec. 1). Tip-off on Bennett Court at Quandt Fieldhouse is set for 5:00 p.m.