Isaac Tapp led the Gusties in scoring on Friday evening.
Winona, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team fell to Division II Winona State 65-51 in an exhibition game played Friday evening at McCown Gymnasium. The Gusties shot 54 percent from three-point land, but couldn’t manage to hold off the 2008 Division II National Champion Warriors in their home gym.
Winona State jumped out to early leads of 17-5 and 28-7 and at the 6:22 mark in the first half had built a 36-10 advantage that would prove to be too much for Gustavus to overcome. The Gusties did mount a small comeback in those remaining six minutes, and by halftime, had cut the Warrior lead to 43-26. However, the second half was much the same, with Winona State holding comfortable leads for the entire half and never leading by less than 11.
Isaac Tapp (Sr. Stewartville, Minn.) was the only Gustie to score in double-digits as he led the way with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including going 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. Brody Ziegler (Jr., Mankato, Minn) and Martin Feddersen (Sr., Winona, Minn.) were right behind him, scoring nine and seven points, respectively, with Ziegler adding a team-high 10 rebounds. Peter Kruize (So., St. Peter, Minn.) also made his presence felt by coming off the bench to chip in seven points on 3-of-3 shooting.
Riley Bambenek and Tim Wagner led the Warriors on the evening with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Mark Blacklock pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the home team.
Despite the Gusties’ solid percentage from beyond the arc, the visitors shot 38.5 percent from the floor compared with Winona State’s 45.8 percent. The Warriors also out-rebounded Gustavus 35-27.
Gustavus will begin its regular season on Nov. 15 when it will take on Simpson College in its regular season opener. Tip-off will begin at 7 p.m. in Indianola, Iowa.