ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — After their performance in the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament sectional final, it's not hard to understand why Augustana College spent a good portion of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Vikings played nearly a perfect game in eliminating Marietta College by the score of 100-51 Saturday (March 14) evening in the Carver Center.

Augustana (26-4 overall) raced out to a 20-9 lead and never looked back. The Viking offense was hitting on all cylinders converting 62% of its shot attempts, including a lofty 72% from three-point range. Their smothering defense held Marietta to just 29% shooting from the floor and 18% from behind the arc.

"Augustana is a really good team," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "That's the best defensive team that we have seen all year. It was a perfect storm tonight for Augustana and things got out of control."

The Vikings took advantage of Marietta's ice cold shooting to build a 30-point halftime lead, 50-20. Any hopes Pioneer fans had of a historic comeback were quickly dashed in the opening minutes of the second half. Augustana pushed the margin to 40 points, 64-24, just over five minutes into the period.

13 different Vikings scored in the game including four in double figures. Hunter Hill led Augustana with 17 points. Griffin Pils hit four three-pointers and finished with 16 points. While Tavyian Johnson had 13 points and a team-high six rebounds. Ben Ryan chipped in with 12 points.

Senior Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union) led Marietta with 13 points. Eddy Grenert (Wooster/Triway) was also in double figures with 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds. Luis Garcia (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) added nine points.

Marietta finishes its record setting season with an overall record of 28-4. That marks the best record in program history. The Pioneers will say goodbye to four seniors including Stephenson, Andy Dollman (Vienna, W.Va./Parkersburg), A.J. Davis (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge) and Andy Stegman (Wheelersburg/Wheelersburg).

The 2015 seniors leave as the winningest class in program history with 84 career wins. Their list of accomplishments is lengthy and includes this year's 21 consecutive wins to start the season and first-ever trip to the Elite 8.

 "This group of seniors has a lot to be proud of," VanderWal said. "They are great young men and have left their mark on this program."