St. Paul, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team survived a dismal first half before running away with a 75-52 win over Macalester at Leonard Center on Monday night. The Gusties trailed 27-14 at the break, but came back to explode for 61 points in the second half and capture the 23-point victory. Jordan Dick (Sr., Wabasha, Minn.) led all scorers with 16 points, thanks in large part to 4 of 7 shooting from three-point range. Gustavus improves to 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the MIAC, while Macalester drops to 2-9 overall and 1-5 in league play.
On one of the coldest nights in recent Minnesota history, Gustavus’s shooting percentage resembled that of the temperature outside of the Leonard Center on Monday night. The Gusties shot just 20.7 percent (6-29) in the opening frame, the lowest field goal percentage in a half through 11 games this season. The frigid shooting percentage led to just 14 points, also the fewest in a half this season.
With all of Gustavus’s struggles, Macalester took a 27-14 lead into the break after shooting 39.1 percent (9-23) and outrebounded the Gusties 20-17.
After assembling the worst half of the season in the first 20 minutes, Gustavus reversed its fortune and put together arguably its best half of the season scoring a season-high 61 points following the break.
The two teams traded baskets through the first two and a half minutes of the frame before the Gusties took off on a 25-0 run that lasted just 4:19 of game clock. The run featured seven Macalester turnovers, six of which were Gustavus steals. Jordan Dick and Martin Feddersen (Jr., Winona, Minn.) each scored eight points during the run, while Brody Ziegler (So., Mankato, Minn.) added six more.
Following a pair of free throws by Anthony Granai for the Scots, the Gusties took off on another run, this time a 19-3 stretch that opened up a 26-point lead (62-38) with 6:53 remaining. Seven different players scored on the run. Macalester again turned the ball over seven times during the stretch. From there, Gustavus cruised to the 23-point win.
In the second half, the Gusties shot a blistering 69 percent (20-29) from the field, 66.7 percent (4-6) from three-point range, and 85 percent (17-20) from the free throw line after not registering a single free throw attempt in the first. Gustavus was stellar defensively, creating 13 steals and forcing 18 Macalester turnovers.
For the game, Gustavus shot 44.8 percent (26-58) from the field and 60 percent (6-10) from three-point range. Macalester was held to 44.4 percent (20-45) shooting from the floor and 29.4 percent (5-17) from three. While the two teams pulled down 31 rebounds apiece, the Gusties forced the Scots into 27 turnovers, 14 of which came from Gustavus steals.
For Gustavus, Jordan Dick’s 16 points were joined in double-figure scoring by Ziegler and Feddersen with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Ziegler went 7 of 9 from the field, while Feddersen went 3 of 8 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line. Feddersen also racked up five steals and four assists without a turnover.
Macalester was led in scoring by Kyle Bernhard, Kareem Ismail, and Bert Yaffe with eight points apiece. Ismail also recorded a game-high nine rebounds.
Gustavus will next take the floor on Wednesday night when it hosts Bethel at Gus Young Court at 7:30 p.m.