The Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team fell to 6-5 overall and 4-2 in the MIAC with a 63-58 loss at Concordia Monday night in Moorhead. Andrew Doble (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) led the Gusties, who trailed 41-31 at haltime, with 11 points off the bench. Brock Citterman scored 17 to lead the Cobbers, while Luke Linz chipped in with 14.
The Gusties got on the board first, taking a 2-0 lead on a jumper by Phil Sowden (Sr., Brooklyn Park, Minn.) just 20 seconds into the contest, but the Cobbers took over after that. Concordia shot 17-of-26 (65.4%) from the field in the first half, including 5-of-7 (71.4%) from three-point range to build a 15-point lead at 37-22 with 4:28 to play in the first half. Gustavus, which shot only 38.7% (12-31) from the field in the first 20 minutes, finished the half on a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 10 points at 41-31 heading into the halftime break.
The Gusties forced their way back into the game in the second half, scoring five straight points to cut the Cobber lead to five at 41-36. A 9-4 Concordia run extended the lead back to double-digits at 50-40 with 14:37 to play, but Gustavus continued chip away at the advantage. A pair of Kane Sivesind (Jr., Madison, Wis.) free throws closed the gap to 52-49 with 8:20 to play. The tenuous three-point Cobber lead would hold until the 4:34 mark when Erich Meichsner brought the nearly four-minute scoreless streak to an end with a layup to put Concordia up 54-49.
A layup by Andrew Doble with 3:27 remaining cut the lead to three points for the final time. The Cobbers scored the next five points, holding Gustavus scoreless over the next 1:40 until another pair of Sivesind free throws made the score 59-53 with only 1:47 to play. A layup by Lenz and two made free throws by Jonathan Schulz increased Concordia’s advantage to ten points at 63-53 with 59 seconds to play, but the Gusties made one last run, scoring five straight points on a layup by Andrew Olson (Sr., Owatonna, Minn.) and a three-pointer by Jesse Van Sickle (Fr., Garden City, Minn.) to make the score 63-58 in favor of the Cobbers. Due to a stiff Concordia defense, the Gusties were limited to only one shot attempt in the game’s final 31 seconds.
While the Gusties won the overall battle on the glass by a slim 27-25 margin, the Cobbers had a 21-15 advantage in defensive rebounds. Concordia players also picked up seven blocks during the contest. Doble finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting to lead the Gusties, while Jay Stien (Sr., Arlington, Minn.) and Sowden each added eight. Sowden struggled from the field, converting on only three of eight attempts. He was also 1-for-4 at the free throw line. Olson and Sivesind ech added seven points, while junior Trevor Wittwer (Redwood Falls, Minn.) posted six points on 3-of-9 shooting with a game-high seven rebounds.
Citterman’s 17 points came on 6-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-10 from behind the three-point line. Linz made six of nine field goal attempts and made two of his four free throw attempts for 14 points. He also had seven rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.
Gustavus will face University of St. Thomas (11-1, 7-0 MIAC), an 80-63 winner over Augsburg on Monday, at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul on Wednesday evening. Concordia (2-9, 2-4 MIAC) also travels to the Twin Cities on Wednesday, facing Bethel (6-5, 1-5 MIAC) in Arden Hills.