The Gustavus men’s basketball saw its valiant comeback fall short when Ben Aalfs hit a three-point shot with :02 remaining to give UW-Superior a 71-68 win over the Gusties in Superior, Wis. Gustavus, which trailed by 14 points at halftime, stormed back behind the play of Seth Anderson who scored 14 second half points. The Gusties, who fall to 1-1 on the season, will next play at Bethany on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 7 pm.
Gustavus got off to a slow start in the game making only 10 of 27 shots in the first half including 0-of-7 shooting from behind the arc. The host Yellowjackets on the other hand were red hot making 15-of-22 shots including 7-of-10 from behind the arc.
Down 54-44 with 10:14 left in the game, the Gusties used a 10-0 run to tie the score at 54-54 at the 6:44 mark. Neither team would hold a lead of bigger than three points the rest of the game. Dan Schmidtknecht made 1-of-2 free throws with 33 seconds left in regulation play to tie the score at 68-68. UW-Superior held the ball for one shot and Ben Aalfs responded with the game-winning three-point shot with 02 seconds left to play.
Four Gustavus players reached double figures including Seth Anderson and Phil Wirtjes with 16 points each, James Hill with 15, and Paul Blacklock with 10. UW-Superior was led by Jake Smith with 19 points.