St. Bonifacius, MN - The Polars Men's Basketball team faced off with the Augustana Vikings and took home the three point win 64-61.

A hot start from the Polars gave them an early 15-5 lead. Crown kept the ten point lead for a majority of the first half until a 12-0 run from the Vikings cut the lead to one with 5:39 to play in the first half. Following a timeout the Polars found some offense from Jacob Masek, Tyrus Buckner, and Cade Carroll to push the lead to five. A jumper from Levi Royston stretched Crown's lead to seven at the end of the half as the Polars led 37-30.

The second half was neck and neck as both teams traded blows early. Augustana saw their first lead of the game since the first two minutes but Crown took it right back after a three from Jacob Van Dam to push the score to 42-40 with 16 minutes to play. The fourth and fifth lead changes of the half came with eleven minutes to go as the Vikings found a few buckets and Crown answered with a three ball from Masek and a bucket in the paint from Buckner. The Polars inched out in front by five points but the solid defensive play from the Vikings helped slow down the Polars offensive attack and lead was cut to one three times in the last five minutes. With one minute to play and a missed free throw from Augustana, Crown held onto a one point lead. The Polars closed out the last two possessions with a made low post bucket from Cade Carroll and two free throws from Jacob Masek as the Polars held on 64-61.

A balanced offensive effort saw four Polars notch double digit points as Jacob Van Dam led the way with 15 points. Buckner and Masek both score 14 points and Cade Carroll scored 11. Buckner earned a double-double and led Crown with 10 rebounds. Micah Ladd totaled 5 assists and 3 steals. Crown only shot 35.1% from the field as a team but made up for it going 15-17 from the charity stripe.

The Polars stay undefeated at 3-0 and will return home on Monday, November 20th for a 7pm contest with Grace Christian.