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October 31, 2011

2011-12 Season - Vikings open with exhibition at Valpo

Senior guard Eric Safranski and his Augustana Viking teammates will take on Division I Valparaiso Thursday, November 3 at 7:05 CDT at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso, Indiana.

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - For the sixth time during coach Grey Giovanine's 13-year stint at Augustana, his Vikings will be taking on an NCAA Division I opponent when they face the Valparaiso Crusaders at 7:05 p.m. CDT on Thursday, November 3 in Valparaiso, Indiana. Augustana, which finished 27-4 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division III tournament in 2010-11, comes into the contest as the nation's second-ranked Division III team according to the D3hoops.com preseason poll. Valparaiso went 23-12 a year ago, including a win over two-time national runner up Butler, and earned a berth in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament. The Crusaders are led by first-year head coach Bryce Drew.

 The game will be video streamed live on the Horizon League Network and can be accessed via: http://www.horizonleague.org/live/4474.

 Drew is replacing his father Homer-who led the team for 22 seasons-on the Crusader bench. The younger Drew hit the iconic buzzer-beater that gave Valparaiso a first round victory over Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA tournament. He went on to a six-year playing career in the NBA.

 The Crusaders return eight players and two starters from last year's club, which finished one win shy of a Horizon League co-championship. The top returnee is 6-7 junior wing Ryan Broekhoff, who averaged 10.3 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and connected on 64 of 143 (.448) three point attempts last year. The other returning starter is 5-11 senior point guard Erik Buggs, who led the team with 109 assists in 2010-11.

 Augustana returns four starters and 11 letter winners, led by senior tri-captains Bryant Voiles (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.), Brian DeSimone (Buffalo Grove HS, Wheeling, Ill.) and Troy Rorer (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa).

 Giovanine, who sports a 226-93 (.708) record in 12 seasons at Augustana, has led the Vikings against Division I opponents Western Illinois in 2000-01 (a 76-71 win), Eastern Illinois in 2001-02 (an 87-71 loss), Southern Illinois in 2004-05 (an 89-53 loss) and Gonzaga in 2009-10 (a 79-40 loss). All of those games were regular season contests. The Vikings also played an exhibition game at Northern Illinois in 2007-08, won by the Huskies 77-64.

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