Tyler Grey takes an open three-pointer in Gsutavus' 105-79 win over Hamline on Wedesday night in St. Peter. Grey finished with 12 points in the game. Photo courtesy of A.J. Dahm of Sport PiX.
St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team used its best offensive performance of the season to defeat Hamline 105-79 on Wednesday night at Gus Young Court. Four of Gustavus’ five starters reached double-figures, as Seth Anderson paced the Gusties with 36 points after going 14-for-21 from the field and 7-for-7 at the free throw line. Gustavus shot over 50-percent from the field for the fourth-straight game, going 34-of-66 (.515) on the night.
“It’s fun to see the guys enjoying a win like this where we score a lot of points,” said Head Coach Mark Hanson. “The guys see all the little things that go into a game like that and it was a good team win.”
Gustavus has won its last five MIAC matchups, improving to 8-2 in the conference and 11-4 overall. Hamline sees its three-game win-streak snapped, dropping to 6-4 in the MIAC and 8-7 overall.
The Gustavus starting five accounted for 83 of Gustavus’ 105 points. Joining Anderson in the scoring-spree was Ben Biewen, Tyler Grey, and Paul Blacklock. Biewen scored 16 points on 3-for-8 shooting, including an 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line. Grey reached double-figures for the third game in a row, scoring 12 points after shooting 3-of-8 from the field and knocking down two three-pointers. Hamline couldn’t find a way to keep Blacklock off the boards from start to finish, as the senior post brought down 11 rebounds and scored 11 points for Gustavus’ first double-double of the season. Blacklock went 5-for-7 from the field, scoring eight points on tip-ins alone.
“The unfortunate thing about stat sheets is that it doesn’t tell you everything about the game. Paul Blacklock is a classic example of that,” commented Hanson. “He anchored our defense and like Josh said a couple times during the game, ‘he’s putting on a clinic,’ which he was.
Despite being outshot .567-to-.462 from the field in the first half, the Gusties took a 47-45 lead into halftime thanks to a layup and a converted three-point-play by Blacklock as time expired.
The Gusties would start the game hot for the second outing in a row, leading 16-8 at the 14:15 mark following a three by Blake Shay. After Shay’s three-pointer, Gustavus went cold and the Pipers used a 17-to-2 run to take a 25-18 lead with 9:14 left in the half.
Hamline led by as many as eight points (30-22) by the 8:16 mark, as Gustavus scored just six points in a six-minute time-span during the heart of the period. The Pipers would hold on to the advantage until a Seth Anderson jumper at 1:14 put up the Gusties up 44-43 with 1:14 left in the half.
Anderson scored 21 points in the first half after going 9-for-14 from the floor, while Blacklock scored nine points and recorded six offensive rebounds.
Paul Blacklock passes out to the point from the low block.
The Gusties could not have asked for a better opening seven minutes to the second half, as a Ben Biewen jumper at 18:27 sparked a 19-to-4 run that saw Gustavus on top 66-51 with 13:07 left to play.
Gustavus’ largest lead of the game came at the 4:18 mark when Anderson converted a three-point-play after being fouled on a jumper. The Gusties consistently knocked down shots from both the field and at the line in the second half, going 16-for-27 from the floor and 20-for-21 at the line.
A three-pointer by Ashton Erie brought the score to a final at 105-79. It is Gustavus’ highest scoring performance since Feb. 13, 2002 when the Gusties defeated Hamline 121-59.
“We tried to play at our pace, but we got a open layups and we aren’t going to pass up open layups,” said Blacklock about the up-and-down pace of the game. “Our offense isn’t necessarily a slow it down type, but it is to work to get good shots. Tonight we got good shots early in the shot clock.”
Gustavus brought down a season-high 41 rebounds compared to Hamline’s 24 on the night. The Gusties also attempted a season-high 23 three-pointers, hitting a total of nine for a three-point shooting percentage of .391.
“Since they are a shorter team they like to double down, which leaves our shooters open at the three-point line. Our shooters are pretty good so we’ll get it to them and they’ll knock it down,” said Blacklock.
Hamline shot .483 (28-58) from the field, .500 (9-18) from three-point range, and .824 (14-17) at the line.
Brandon Rieg came off the bench to score 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting to lead the Pipers. Dior Ford scored 10 points (5-8) in the first half yet was blanked in the second after going 0-for-3.
The Gustavus men’s basketball team will look to cap the three-game week with its sixth-straight MIAC victory on Saturday at Bethel. The game is set for 3:00 p.m. and can be heard on both KNUJ AM 860 and through the Gustavus Athletics website.