ST. BONIFACIOUS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team Tuesday night dug itself an early hole at Crown College and it proved to be too deep to come out from in an 83-75 loss. The Gusties drop to 0-2 overall, while the Polars improve to 2-1.
Crown started with all the momentum, taking a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes to force a Gustavus timeout. The Polars continued to pile it on early in the game, going on a 15-6 run over the next seven minutes to extend the lead to 27-6. Crown led by as much as 27 points at 43-16 with 3:04 left in the half before the Gusties closed out the half on a 11-6 run, making the score 49-27 at halftime.
Trailing 72-50 with 6:58 let in the game, the Gusties started to make their comeback bid, jumpstarted by a three-pointer from Spencer Swanson (So., Waconia). Swanson accounted for nine fo the Gusties’ next 15 points, cutting the Polar lead to seven points with 3:40 left in the game. The Gusties kept it a seven-point deficit after a jumper from Evan Wieker (Jr., St. Michael) with 2:32 on the clock, but that would be the closest the Gusties came in an eight-point loss.
Gustavus improved its shooting from 32.1 percent in the first half to 49.6 percent in the second, but the Polars shot 51.5 percent for the game. The Gusties turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 26 points off the takeaway for the Polars. The Crown bench outscored the Gustie bench 25-10.
Swanson and Adam Biewen (Jr., Golden Valley) led the Gusties with 23 points apiece. Swanson shot 7-for-14 with three three-pointers and nine rebounds, while Biewen shot 8-for-11 with three treys and eight boards.
Gustavus begins MIAC play at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against Saint Mary’s.