Northfield, Minn. – After leading by 13 points (32-19) heading into halftime, the Gustavus men’s basketball team survived a second half surge by Carleton College in a 62-57 win on Saturday afternoon at West Gym.
The Gusties held the Knights to just 34.8 percent (8-23) in the first half, but Carleton came back to shoot 55 percent (11-20) in a second half comeback effort.
Carleton’s Taylor Hanson led all scorers with 23 points and added seven rebounds. Martin Feddersen (Jr., Winona, Minn.) led the Gusties in scoring with a career-high 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting.
With the win, Gustavus improves to 14-8 overall and 11-6 in the MIAC, while Carleton drops to 9-12 overall and 7-9 in league play.
Carleton jumped out to a 9-5 lead in the early going, but an 11-2 run for Gustavus gave the Gusties a five-point lead (16-11) with 7:09 to play in the opening half.
Gustavus went on to end the frame on an 8-0 run to take the 13-point lead (32-19) into halftime.
The Gusties shot 53.8 percent (14-26) in the half and held the Knights to 34.8 percent (8-23) shooting. Gustavus also forced Carleton to commit nine turnovers compared to six of its own.
The Knights came out firing after the break. They opened the second half on an 11-0 run to cut the Gustavus lead to two points (32-30) less than five minutes into the frame.
From there, the two teams went back-and-forth. Gustavus would lead by as many as eight points (40-32) before Carleton cut the lead back to two points (51-49) with 2:45 remaining.
However, it would be as close as the Knights would come the rest of the way, as the Gusties went on to make four of their final six free throws to seal the win.
For the game, Gustavus shot 49 percent (24-49) from the field, while Carleton converted on 44.2 percent (19-43) of its field goal attempts. The Gusties also held a 30-27 advantage in rebounding.
Feddersen led three Gusties who scored in double-figures with 17 points. He also dished out a team-high five assists. Jordan Dick (Sr., Wabasha, Minn.) followed with 14 points on 5 of 8 shooting including two three-pointers. Brian Jacobs (Jr., Lake Crystal, Minn.) was the final Gustie in double-figures with 13 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds – five of which were offensive. Brody Ziegler (So., Mankato, Minn.) also grabbed eight rebounds.
Taylor Hanson led the Knights with 23 points on 7 of 13 shooting from the field and 9 of 10 from the free throw line. He also pulled down seven rebounds. Shane McSparron and Peter Bakker-Arkema followed with 12 points each. Bakker-Arkema knocked down three triples.
Gustavus will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 12th when it travels to Arden Hills, Minn., to take on Bethel University at 7:30 p.m.