Kane Sivesind recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Trevor Wittwer led the Gusties with 14 points.
Jesse Van Sickle had 12 points for Gustavus.
Tyler Kramer looks for an open pass.
The Gustavus men’s basketball team defeated University of Minnesota-Morris 91-58 on Monday evening in a non-conference matchup in St. Peter. The Gusties utilized a 13-0 run in the first half to take a 49-33 lead into halftime and then used several big runs in the second half en route to a 33-point victory. Gustavus improves to 5-3 overall while the Cougars fall to 1-8 on the season.
In the first half, UMM took a 15-10 lead at 15:25 when Brent Durensky stole the ball, laid it in for two, and converted the three-point play with a free throw. However, Gustavus stormed back as Trevor Wittwer (Jr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) tied the game at 15-15 with a jumper at 13:38. Gustavus scored 22 of the next 27 points, including the last 13 in a row, to build a 37-20 lead. The run was capped by an Andrew Doble (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) lay up with 6:39 to play. The Gusties extended the lead to 20 points on a short jump shot by Jay Stien (Sr., Arlington, Minn.) at 4:43. Following a three-point play by the Cougars’ Eric Dalbey at 1:47 and a successful UMM free throw, Kane Sivesind (Jr., Madison, Wis.) tipped in a rebound for two points at the buzzer for a 49-33 Gustie lead heading into halftime.
Minnesota-Morris started the second half on a 5-2 run that cut the lead to 51-38, but the Gusties answered back with an 11-2 run that was capped by Stien laying it in for two points and a 62-40 lead. The teams traded baskets and at the 9:32 mark, Sivesind hit a three, which started an 11-3 Gustavus run to give the Gusties a 75-49 lead. Gustavus continued its scoring ways by finishing the game on a 16-9 run in the final six minutes.
The Gusties had five players score in double figures including Wittwer with 14. Andrew Olson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.), Phil Sowden (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.), and Jesse Van Sickle (Fy., Garden City, Minn.) all had 12, and Sivesind contributed 10 points. Sivesind also pulled down 10 rebounds for a game-high. Steve Farmer recorded a game-high 17 points for the Cougars while Dalbey had 14 points.
Gustavus will take a break until January 2 when it travels to Mankato to face Bethany Lutheran at 7 p.m.