The Gustavus men’s basketball team found itself in a position to win Saturday afternoon at Hamline, but a three-point attempt by Adam TeBrake (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) fell by the wayside, enabling the Pipers to escape with a 67-65 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over the Gusties in St. Paul. The loss was the Gusties’ first to Hamline since the 1994-95 season.
The Gusties trailed early in the contest, but rebounded to tie the score at 8-8 before Phil Sowden (Jr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) was called for a technical foul with 16:38 to play in the first half. Piper forward Kyle Foster made one of the two ensuing free throws to give Hamline a one-point lead, but the call seemed to fire up the Gusties, who went on a 23-10 run over the next 12 minutes to take a 12-point lead at 31-19 with 4:37 remaining in the half. The run was capped by a pair of three-pointers by sophomore Kane Sivesind (Madison, Wis.). Gustavus missed its last six field goal attempts by two free throws each by freshmen Robert Schmidt (New Germany, Minn.) and Mike DesLauriers (Minnetonka, Minn.) allowed the Gusties to take a 35-28 lead into the half. Hamline finished the first half with a 14-6 advantage in points in the paint, but the Gusties held a 14-5 edge in points off turnovers and a 19-8 edge in bench points in the first half.
Hamline opened the second half with a missed layup, but made five consecutive field goal attempts to turn the seven-point halftime deficit into a two-point lead with 16:02 to play in the game. A pair of fouls by Gustie forward Jay Stien (So., Arlington, Minn.) allowed the Pipers to increase the lead to seven points (50-43) at the free throw line, while Schmidt hit his second big three-pointer in two games to cut the lead back to four points at 50-46 with 12:39 to play. Over the next 2:10, neither team could put the ball in the hoop, combining for three missed shots and six turnovers. Stein knocked down a jumper with 10:29 to go to cut the lead to 50-48, followed by a TeBrake jumper with 8:59 to go to tie the game for the third time.
A fourth personal foul by Stien sent him to the bench with 8:14 to play and was joined just over a minute later by Sowden, who had picked up his fifth personal foul. With both Stien and Sowden out of the game, Hamline built the lead back to five points at 59-54. The Gusties responded with a 7-2 run behind a three-pointer by TeBrake and four free throws by Trent Hollerich (Sr., Good Thunder, Minn.) to tie the game at 61-61.
With the two teams tied at 65-65 with just over a minute to play, Kyle Foster sank a pair free throws. They proved to be the final points of the game as Hamline forced a turnover on the Gusties’ next possession.
After junior Sam Wiener missed a three that would have sealed the win, Gustavus could not get a good look, and TeBrake settled for an unsuccessful three-point heave as time expired.
TeBrake led three Gusties in double figures with 16 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Sowden and Sivesind each added ten points for Gustavus. Stien finished with a team-high six rebounds.
Foster led all players with 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 11-of-14 from the free throw line. Foster was 10-of-11 from the charity stripe in the second half. Tony Thrasher added 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for the Pipers.
The Pipers out-shot the Gusties 47.7 percent to 40.4 percent for the game, but the difference in the game came at the free throw line. Gustavus finished 17-of-18 from the free throw line, while Hamline was successful on 22 of 32 opportunities.
Gustavus falls to 12-4 overall, 7-4 in the MIAC. Hamline improves to 7-9 overall, 6-5 in the MIAC with the win. Gustavus will travel to Moorhead on Wednesday to face Concordia.