For the second night in a row, Seth Anderson led the team in scoring. Anderson scored 24 points in Gustavus' 66-62 win over Transylvania.
Even Elvis Presley would have been impressed with the Gustavus men’s basketball team’s performance at the D3hoops.com Classic held in “Fabulous Las Vegas.” For the second night in a row, the Gusties were able to hand their opponent its first loss of the season, defeating Transylvania University 66-62 in another tightly-contested game.
Transylvania would lead by six points on two occasions at the 13:07 (17-11) and 11:23 (19-13) marks of the first half. The Gusties would tie the game at 28-28 with 5:35 left in the half, but the Pioneers responded with a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 35-28 with 2:20 left. A jumper by Reed Sallstrom and two three throws by Seth Anderson brought the score to 35-32 in favor of Transylvania at the break.
Anderson led all scorers in the first half with 15 points after going 5-for-8 from the field and 5-for-7 from the free throw line. Brandon Rash led the Pioneers with 13 points, going 5-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-2 from three-point range. Gustavus shot 55-percent and Transylvania shot 52-percent from the field in the first.
Back-to-back three pointers by Jim Hill then Ben Biewen gave Gustavus a 38-37 lead at the 17:29 mark of the second half. It was Gustavus’ first lead since the opening minute of the game. Transylvania once again answered with a big scoring run, taking a 46-39 lead with 14:12 on the clock.
Transylvania took back the lead shortly after and held a narrow advantage for the majority of the second half. A jumper by Ben Biewen at the 4:03 mark sparked a 6-0 Gustie run that tied the game at 57-57 with 2:39 to play. Down one point (60-59) with 1:10 remaining, a three-pointer by Tyler Grey turned out to be the final lead change of the contest, giving Gustavus a 62-60 edge with :54 seconds on the clock.
Following an Anderson free throw that put Gustavus up 65-62 with :19 seconds left, Barrett Meyer missed a game-tying three on the ensuing possessing and Ben Biewen brought the score to a final at 66-62 on a three throw with :10 seconds left.
Ben Biewen threw in 18 points in the win, matching his season and career-high.
Gustavus shot 41.7-percent from the field in the second half, while Transylvania shot 31.8-percent. Biewen led the Gusties with 10 points after going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and 1-for-1 from three point range.
Seth Anderson led the way with a game-high 24 points. He went 7-for-14 from the field and 10-for-14 at the free throw line. Ben Biewen joined Anderson in double-figures with an 18-point effort, matching his career-high. Biewen went 5-for-6 from the field, 2-for-3 from three, and 6-for-8 at the line. The Gusties shot 47.7-percent (21-44) from the field in the game. The Gustie bench outscored Transylvania’s 17-to-8 in the contest.
Transylvania shot 42.6-percent (20-47) from the field and 47.4-percent (9-19) from three-point range. The Pioneers were led in scoring by Brandon Rash who went 7-for-11 from the field, 4-for-4 from three, and 6-for-8 at the line for 24 points. Ethan Spurlin scored 15 points and Tate Cox added 13 to join Rash in double-figures.
The Gusties finish 2011 on a high note and improve to 6-3 on the season with the win. After suffering their first loss of the year, the Pioneers enter 2012 at 10-1 overall. Gustavus will return to Minnesota and kick 2012 off with a conference test against Saint Mary’s on Jan. 4 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Peter.