SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team will head to Storm Lake, Iowa on Tuesday to take on Buena Vista University for a 7 p.m. contest. Both the Gusties and the Beavers enter the game 1-1 overall.
The Series
This will be the 18th all-time meeting between the two teams with the Gusties leading the series 10-7. The last time the two teams met, the Beavers bested the Gusties by a score of 59-41 on Nov. 21, 2017.
Scouting the Gusties
The Gusties are coming off their first victory of the season on Saturday when they took down Northwestern-St. Paul 71-68. They have been very balanced offensively this season with five different players averaging 8.5 or more points in their first two contests. Vannis Smith (Jr., Crystal Lake, Ill.) leads all Gusties scorers averaging 10.5 points per game on 50 percent shooting. Nolan Malo (Fy., Owatonna, Minn.) has been solid inside averaging 9.5 points per game on the season and a team-leading 5.5 rebounds. The Gusties are outshooting opponents from behind the three-point line this season with a percentage of .373 compared to opponents shooting .367.
Scouting the Beavers
Buena Vista is most recently coming off a 87-72 loss at the hands of No. 12 UW-Stevens Point. They’re led offensively by Timothy Jeffries who’s averaging 21 points per contest on .737 percent shooting from the field and .857 percent from beyond the arc. Dominic Sesma and Connor Winkleman both also average double figures, at 15.5 and 12.5 points per game respectively. The Beavers are prolific from three-point range making 50 percent of their attempts on an average of 32 shots per game.