Augustana men’s basketball off to good start

After defeating Wisconsin-Oshkosh 77-64 on Wednesday night, the Augustana College men's basketball team is off to a 5-1 start.

Its only loss came earlier in the week against NCAA Division III No. 9-ranked Washington University of St. Louis, 68-61.

That 5-1 start has allowed the Vikings to receive a No. 17 ranking by d3hoops.com, and the schedule for Augie isn't going to get easier by any means.

Augie continues its College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin schedule on Saturday night with a home game against North Park at 7 p.m.

The Vikings' first game once the calendar turns to 2017 is against No. 6 North Central. Before that, Augie also faces Wisconsin-La Crosse (receiving votes), Central of the Iowa Conference and Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Some of the big contributors for the Vikings are familiar faces to the Quad-Cities. The top two scorers are Bettendorf's Dylan Sortillo and senior Jacob Johnston, formerly of the Erie Cardinals.

Sortillo, a junior, is leading the Vikings with 14.3 points a game, and scored 20 points in Wednesday's win against Oshkosh.

Sortillo averaged 12 points a game in his senior season for the Bulldogs behind Nicholas Baer.

Johnston is shooting 54 percent from the floor, and the former Erie forward is contributing with 13.5 points a game.

Brett Benning of Dakota, Illinois, is averaging 10.3 points a game, and has come off the bench in every game so far.