The Gustavus men’s basketball team traveled to Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Monday night to face Augustana College in an exhibition contest to open the 2010-11 season. The Vikings shot an impressive 62.3 percent from the field and claimed a convincing 101-74 win over the Gusties. Seth Anderson and Ben Biewen led Gustavus in scoring with 12 points each.
The Vikings came out on fire making 10 of their first 15 shots and built a 14-point lead at 29-15 at the 9:43 mark of the first half. Augustana continued to build on its lead and headed into the locker room at the intermission with a 20-point lead at 51-31. The Vikings scorched the nets in the first 20 minutes making 71.0 percent of their shots (22-31). Gustavus was also hot from the field shooting 59.1 percent (13-22), but made nine fewer field goals.
The Gusties used a 23-14 run to open the second half to cut the lead to 11 at 65-54 at the 12:00 minute mark. Augustana, however countered with a 20-11 run over the next five minutes to build the lead back up to 20 points and never looked back on its way to the 25-point victory.
The Viking defensive pressure led to 10 steals and forced 22 Gustie turnovers. Gustavus out-rebounded Augustana 26-24.
Three Gustavus players reached double figures in scoring including Seth Anderson and Ben Biewen with 12 points each and Paul Blacklock with 10 points. Trevor Hass led Augustana with 23 points.
Gustavus will officially open its 2010-11 season on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at home against Buena Vista University at 7:30 pm.