The Gustavus men’s basketball team could not recover from a sluggish first half and cold shooting as they were defeated by Carleton 60-55 Monday night in St. Peter, Minn. Carleton’s Seth Jonker scored a game-high 17 points while pulling down five rebounds, as Carleton improves it’s record to 8-8 overall and 4-7 in the MIAC. Phil Wirjtes led the Gusties with 13 points, as they fall to 11-5 overall and 9-2 in the MIAC.
The Gusties got off to a slow start, going 0-for-5 from the field to begin the game. Carleton took an early 4-0 lead and it wasn’t until the 15:31 mark that Wirtjes got Gustavus on the scoreboard with a jumper. Gustavus tied the game at 4-4 less than one minute later, yet Jeremy Sutherland put the Knights back on top with a layup on the following possession. Both teams experienced a bout of cold shooting halfway through the first half as Gustavus was 3-for-12, while Carleton was 4-for-10 with ten minutes to play. A layup by Jonker at the 4:20 mark started a 10-0 Carleton run that was capped off with a jumper by Carter Biewen, completing a five-point Carleton possession. Jonker was the leading scorer in the half with 10 points. Gustavus closed the half with a 7-2 run, and went into halftime trailing 27-22.
Gustavus came out strong in the second half, going on a 5-0 run to start and making the score 29-27 in favor the Knights. Bryan Rosett gave Carleton back a four point lead twice, at the 16:12 and 14:16 marks, of the second half, giving the Knights a 33-29 lead. Carleton was able to cut off Gustavus scoring runs for the remainder of the game, as their largest lead of the half was eight points. A pair of free throws by Paul Blacklock made the score 52-48 in favor of Carleton with 5:07 to play, yet Sutherland stifled the 4-0 run with a jumper on the ensuing possession making the score 54-48. Gustavus would not recover and Carleton held on for the five point victory. Bryan Rosett and Phil Wirtjes were the leading scorers in the half with nine points each. Rosett finished the game with 14 points. Gustavus shot 40% (12-30) in the second half, as Carleton shot 50% (12-24).
Gustavus shot just 12.5% (2-16) from the three-point line and 38.5% (20-52) from the field in the game. Carleton shot 33.3% (5-15) from three-point range and 48.9% (23-47) from the field. Seth Anderson was the second leading Gustavus scorer with 12 points (5-11). Carleton’s Carter Biewen added nine points while shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the field.
Gustavus will travel to Moorhead, Minn. to take on Concordia, Saturday Jan. 23, at 3:00 p.m.