ST. PETER, MINN. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team will hit the road this evening for an MIAC battle with Carleton College, with tip-off taking place at West Gym at 7 p.m. Gustavus will enter the contest with a record of 5-1 overall, while Carleton owns a record of 3-3.
LIVE COVERAGE
Video/Stats (audio also available on 860 AM KNUJ)
GUSTAVUS LINKS
Roster | Schedule/Results | Statistics
CARLETON LINKS
Roster | Schedule/Results | Statistics
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Carleton enters tonight’s game on a two-game win streak after defeating the University of Minnesota, Morris and Macalester College in its previous two contests. Two of the Knights’ three losses this season came in the team’s trip to Hawaii when they played Division II Hawaii Pacific University and the University of Hawaii-Hilo.
To this point, the Knights have been led by junior forward John Eckert who is only seventh on the team in scoring with 7.2 points per game, but leads the team with 10.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest. Sophomore forward Tianen Chen leads the team in scoring with 13.7 points per game and senior guard Shane McSparron is second with 11.7.
THE SERIES
Tonight’s contest marks the 86th meeting between Gustavus and Carleton in men’s basketball. The Gusties hold the advantage in the all-time series with a record of 52-33, and have won each of the last seven match ups dating back to the 2010-11 season. Gustavus swept the season series last year, winning by the scores of 57-39 in St. Peter and 62-57 in Northfield.
LAST TIME OUT
Gustavus heads into tonight’s game after winning its fourth straight contest, a 77-67 victory over the University of Northwestern this past Saturday in St. Peter. Sergio Najera (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and Gustavus shot 65.9-percent to bolster an offense that has now averaged 74.3 points per game this season. Gustavus trailed 21-16 with 11:17 remaining in the first half, but proceeded to go on a 17-4 run over the next five plus minutes to take a 33-26 lead at the six minute mark, with 13 of those points coming from Najera. Gustavus would never trail in the final half and went on a 12-3 run to build its lead to 10 (69-59) with four minutes remaining in the game. From there, Gustavus’s lead would never drop below seven and the home team came away with the 77-67 victory.
Carleton is most recently coming off a 83-50 road victory over the University of Minnesota, Morris on Saturday. Eckert’s third career double-double paced five Knights in double figures and Carleton limited the Cougars to just 30 percent shooting overall. The Knights connected on 60.8 percent of their field-goal attempts and also out-rebounded the Cougars by a 44-24 margin.
UP NEXT
Gustavus will play its final game in 2014 on Saturday when it hosts Hamline University. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. on Gus Young Court.