The Gustavus men’s basketball dropped a non-conference match-up to Division II Minnesota State University, Moorhead on Sunday afternoon in Moorhead by the score of 68-57. A Ben Biewen jumper with 9:55 remaining gave the Gusties a one-point lead at 55-53, however the Dragons out-scored Gustavus 13-2 in final nine minutes of the contest to claim the 11-point victory. Tyler Grey led the Gusties in scoring with 11 points.
Gustavus got off to a slow start in the game and trailed 9-2 after three minutes of play. MSU, Moorhead would build its lead to 11 points at 28-17 with 9:24 to play on a three-point basket by Charlie Chapman. The Gusties battled back, despite some cold shooting and trailed by five, 42-37 at halftime.
Gustavus stayed close early in the second half and took its first lead of the game at 43-42 on a jumper by Seth Anderson at the 18:03 mark. Biewen’s jumper at the 9:55 mark would give the Gusties their last lead at 55-53. Gustavus would struggle the rest of the way shooting 1-for-9 from the field and committing seven turnovers in the final nine minutes of the contest as the Dragon’s pulled away and claimed the 11-point victory.
Two Gustavus players reached double-digits in scoring including Tyler Grey with 11 points and Dan Schmidtknecht with 10. The Gusties shot a cool 41.2 percent from the field (21-51), but made an impressive 45 percent of their shots from behind the arc (9-20).
The Gusties, who are now 2-2 overall, will open MIAC play on Wednesday night, December 1 at Bethel at 7:30 pm.