Students, teachers, administrators, and fans gave the Augustana Men's Basketball team a celebratory sendoff this morning on campus in Rock Island. The Vikings and their coaches got on a charter bus headed for Salem, Virginia, and a police escort led the way to the Final Four.
![All smiles, Coach Giovanine (Left) and College Pres. Steve Bahls pose for photo](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/3189291/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1515x1287+0+0/resize/880x748!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fsites%2Fwvik%2Ffiles%2F201703%2Fimg_8202_coach_giovanine_pres_bahls.jpg)
College President, Steve Bahls, was on hand to wish the team good luck. And Coach Grey Giovanine was in good spirits before the 13-hour trip to the east coast.
On Friday at 6:30 P.M. Central, Augustana will face Williams in the NCAA Division Three semifinals. Both the Vikings and the Ephs have 23-8 records. The name Ephs (pronounced "EEFS") is short for the founder of the college in Massachusetts, Ephraim Williams.
On Friday night, Augustana will host a watch party at Carver starting at 5:00 P.M. If the Vikings win, fans can gather at the River House in Moline to watch Saturday's championship game, against either Babson or Whitman.