The Gustavus men’s basketball team suffered a disappointing 78-63 loss to Bethel University at Gus Young Court on Saturday afternoon. The Royals jumped out to an early 13-7 lead and never looked back as they handed the Gusties their third conference loss of the year. Trevor Wittwer and Adam TeBrake led Gustavus in scoring with 14 points each.
The Gusties trailed 10-7 just four minutes into the game, but then Coach Mark Hanson’s squad missed its next seven shots and the Royals turned the Gusties struggles into an 11-point lead at 22-11 with 11:30 left in the half. Bethel maintained its double-digit lead through most of the first half, but the Gusties put together a slight rally just before the intermission and trailed by seven, 37-30 at the break.
Bethel came out strong in the second half and extended its lead to 14 at 46-32 at the 16:38 mark. The Royals would build their lead to as many as 21 points and the Gusties would get no closer than 13 in final 10 minutes of the game.
Gustavus placed five players in double figures including Witttwer and TeBrake with 14 each, and Andrew Olson, Jay Stien, and Phil Sowden contributed 10 points each. Bethel was led by Tyson Bjorklund with 14 points.
The Gusties next game will be on Wednesday, January 11 versus St. Olaf in St. Peter.