Rock Island, Ill. – The No. 16 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team edged Augustana, 70-69, on Sunday to improve to 4-1 overall.
 
After trailing by nine points at the half and for much of the second half, the Bears tied things with 7:18 remaining. Down two, graduate student Charlie Jacob tied things at 69 with just three seconds remaining, was fouled, and hit the free throw to secure the win for WashU.
 
Jacob led the Bears with 21 points while first-year Will Grudzinski netted 13 points. Sophomore Hayden Doyle and first-year Yogi Oliff each scored 12 points and had two assists. Doyle also added two steals. Sophomores Drake Kindsvater and Jake Wolf each scored four points and pull down six boards.
 
The game opened up with the teams exchanging points, as things were tied twice in the first six minutes. Doyle drained a 3-pointer with 13:38 on the clock and senior Nate Bloedorn added a layup nine seconds later to give the Bears a 14-9 lead.
 
WashU held a slight lead until the final four minutes of the first half when Augustana went on a 10-0 run to head into halftime with a 35-26 advantage.
 
The Bears scored the first four points of the second half on a layup from Oliff and a jumper from Jacob, cutting Augie's lead to 35-30. The Vikings built it back up to nine points with 16:21 on the clock.
 
Grudzinski scored on a fast break, was fouled and hit the free throw, Jacob put in a layup and Oliff drilled a 3-pointer to cut Augie's lead to just one points, 41-40.
 
The Bears kept things within a few possessions, trailing by six points with 10:56 remaining following a layup from Augie's Matt Hanushewsky.
 
WashU took a brief one-point lead, 58-57, with 6:33 remaining, prompting a timeout from the Vikings. Out of the timeout, Augie went on a 7-0 run to go up 64-58 with 4:43 left.
 
Four free throws from Oliff brought it down to a two-point Augie lead and Doyle tied things at 67 apiece with 46 seconds on the clock.
 
Augie's Dan Carr laid one in to take another two-point lead. Following a WashU timeout, Jacob put in his tying layup and netted the game-winning free throw.
 
As a team, WashU shot 28-for-49 from the floor (57.1%) and 7-for-14 (50%) from 3-point range. The Bears also went 7-for-8 (87.5%) from the free throw line. WashU edged Augie 25-24 in rebounds.