The Gustavus men’s basketball team saw its three-game winning-streak come to an end, as the Gusties suffered a 64-62 defeat at the hands of UW-Stout on Saturday night in St. Peter, Minn. After a back-and-forth game, Gustavus could not find a way to convert trailing 63-62 late in the game, going 0-for-4 from the field in the final 1:10. Gustavus drops to 7-4 overall with the loss, while UW-Stout improves to 5-9.
The Gusties were faced with an early deficit to start the game, trailing 16-6 at the 14:32 mark of the first half. A three-pointer by Steve Pax gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the game at 23-9 (11:27).
Gustavus would slowly but surely chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to four points (31-27) with 3:57 left in the half. A layup by Tyler Grey sparked an 11-to-2 run that gave Gustavus a 40-37 edge heading into halftime. Grey knocked down two three-pointers within the run. He would finish the game with 10 points after going 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-5 from three-point range.
Both teams were hot from the floor in the first half. The Gusties shot 65.4-percent, while the Blue Devils shot 64-percent.
The lead would change hands on three occasions in the second half. After Reed Sallstrom put Gustavus up 46-45 on a three throw at 15:47, the Gusties held on to the advantage for over ten minutes.
A three by Alex Oman put UW-Stout on top 60-58 with 5:20 left on the clock. It would be the final lead change as the Blue Devils would hold on for the remainder of the game. Gustavus tied the game at 60-60 and 62-62, yet could not find the go-ahead bucket.
UW-Stout’s Oman was the leading scorer with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Steve Pax scored 19 points and was 8-for-10 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range.
Seth Anderson led the way for the Gusties in what was a cold shooting night for the senior. Anderson scored 14 points but was just 6-for-17 from the field.
Gustavus turned in its best shooting performance in four games, going 24-for-48 (.500) from the field. The Gusties were 3-of-10 from three-point range and 11-of-16 at the line. They won the turnover battle 15-to-20 – scoring 24 points off giveaways – yet were outrebounded 30-to-22. The Gustie bench outscored UW-Superior’s 22-to-9 in the game.
UW-Stout went 24-for-47 (.511) from the field, 6-for-9 (.667) from three, and 10-for-13 (.769) at the free throw line.
The Gustavus men’s basketball team concludes its non-conference schedule for the regular season and heads back into MIAC play on Wednesday, Jan. 11. The Gusties will face Saint John’s with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. on Gus Young Court.