The Gustavus men’s basketball team saw its four-game winning-streak come to and end with a 75-71 loss at the hands of Bethel on Saturday afternoon in Arden Hills, Minn. Seth Anderson scored his 1,000th career point in the loss, scoring 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting and going a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line.
Bethel has now picked off two first place teams in its last two contests (defeating St. Thomas 69-68 on Jan.16), improving to 8-7 overall and 4-6 in the MIAC. Gustavus drops to 11-5 overall and 8-3 in the MIAC with the loss.
Despite trialing by five points (72-67) with 1:32 on the clock, Gustavus was able to take advantage of a missed Bethel free throw and cut the lead 73-71 with :22 seconds remaining. Seth Anderson got the ball at the top of the key, drove into the lane and went up at the free throw line with his patented pull-up jumper. The shot hit the back iron and was pulled out of the air by Bethel’s AJ Hatchett who then went on to sink two free throws to secure a four-point win for the Royals.
Bethel outshot Gustavus .609-to-.423 in the second half, out-scoring the Gusties 40-to-34 after trailing by two points (37-35) at halftime. BU’s Taylor Hall and Kyle Zimmerman combined for 25 points in the frame.
In the game, the Gusties shot 45.3-percent (24-53) from the field, 42.9-percent (6-14) from three-point range, and 94.4-percent (17-18) at the line. For the second-consecutive game, Gustavus missed just one free toss and shot over 90-percent at the charity stripe.
Blake Shay scored 10 points to finish behind Anderson in scoring, going 2-for-3 from three and bringing down four rebounds. Reed Sallstrom had a team-high five boards and scored six points.
Zimmerman and Hall both reached the 20-point mark for the Royals. Zimmerman scored 22 points on a red-hot 9-of-10 shooting performance, while Hall scored 21 points after going 6-for-14 from the field and 8-for-9 at the line. The duo combined for 17 rebounds, as Hall had nine and Zimmerman brought down eight.
Bethel shot 52.9-percent (27-51) from the floor, 43.8-percent (7-16) from three, and 70.0-percent (14-20) at the line.
With 30 points tonight, senior Seth Anderson becomes the 32nd player in the history of Gustavus men’s basketball to reach the 1,000 Point Club. Anderson has scored 1,004 career points and is the first Gustavus player to reach the milestone since Jan. 21, 2008 when Trevor Wittwer did so.
The Gustavus men’s basketball team will be back on the court Wednesday, Jan. 25 when it travels to Northfield, Minn. to take on Carleton at 7:30 p.m.