Gary Cooper drives to the basket in the Gusties' 48-45 loss to Concordia on Wednesday in St. Peter. (Photo courtesy of C.J. Siewert, SPX Sports)
ST. PETER, MINN. – Following one of its best defensive performances of the season this past Saturday, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team was able to put together another strong defensive effort in a Wednesday evening game with Concordia College on Gus Young Court. However, cold shooting proved fatal for Gustavus and led to a 48-45 defeat to the visiting Cobbers. With the loss, Gustavus falls to 4-3 in the MIAC and 8-4 overall, while Concordia improves to 4-3 in the MIAC and 8-4 overall.
“We left some good opportunities on the floor tonight,” said head coach Mark Hanson. “From the beginning, we just weren’t able to convert on easy layups and that continued throughout the course of the game. In a single possession game like we had tonight, those types of missed opportunities really come back to bite you and that was evident tonight.”
Gustavus began the game 0-for-5 from the floor, with four out of those five shots coming within five feet of the basket. Senior forward Martin Feddersen (Winona, Minn.) finally put the Gusties on the board at the 15:50 mark with a driving layup to make the score 4-2 in favor of Concordia. Defense from both sides continued to fight on each possession, and at the 11:27 mark, the score was only 12-7, with the Cobbers holding a narrow advantage. It was at that point that Gustavus went on a 10-2 run, with five of those points being scored by junior guard Gary Cooper (Detroit, Mich.), to put the home team in front 17-14 with 7:04 remaining.
“We had a small run midway through that first half where we became more aggressive and had better fortune shooting the ball,” said Hanson. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep that momentum going for a longer period of time. During that stretch, we played more physical, but overall, I thought Concordia won the hustle battle. Our guys have to begin to realize that it’s a 40 minute game and that we need that type of spirit for more than just a few minutes.”
The final seven minutes of the first half featured a back and forth game, with neither team able to find an offensive rhythm. At the half, Concordia led 26-23.
“I thought we played marvelous defense,” said Hanson. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take advantage of that at times because of their offensive rebounding. Again, I think our physicality hurt us and they simply showed more want at times.”
The Cobbers began the second half with two quick turnovers from sophomore forward Brady Syverson. This seemed to give the Gusties a small spark, as they went on a 6-0 run to begin the second half and take a 29-26 lead. However, a Tom Fraase 3-pointer tied the game at 29-29 and killed any momentum Gustavus had gained to start the half.
A Feddersen jumper with 7:23 remaining in the game gave the Gusties a 39-36 lead. But two 3-pointers from the Cobbers’ Brett Bergeson keyed an 8-0 run for Concordia that would allow it to take a 44-41 lead with 2:23 left on the clock.
“Offensively, we were stagnant,” said Hanson. “We held onto the ball too long and had too many turnovers, however, they played great defense, and that certainly played a role in our performance. There were small stretches were I thought we moved the ball well, but again, it’s a 40 minute game.”
Gustavus then scored four straight points off a jumper from Sergio Najera (Jr., New Prague, Minn.) and a tough layup from Feddersen to give the Gusties a 45-44 lead with 40 seconds remaining. However, Concordia countered on a jumper from Jordan Bolger to make it a 46-45 Cobber advantage. On the next Gustavus possession, Feddersen misread teammate Isaac Tapp’s (Sr., Stewartville, Minn.) movement and threw the ball out of bounds, forcing the Gusties to foul intentionally to stop the clock and send Concordia to the free-throw line. Bergeson was able to convert on both of his attempts to give the Cobbers a 48-45 lead and set up a dramatic finish.
Gustavus called timeout with eight seconds remaining to draw up a final play. The Gusties inbounded and set several screens to set up a Chad Poppen (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.) 3-pointer as time expired. However, Poppen was jostled by a Concordia defender on the final screen, causing an errant pass from Feddersen to end up in a Cobber defender’s hands, which ended the game.
Feddersen and Cooper led the Gustie offense with 10 points apiece, with each shooting 4-of-7 from the floor. Cooper also brought down five rebounds. Brody Ziegler (Jr., Mankato, Minn.) came into the game shooting nearly 60-percent and was second on the team with an average of 10.4 points per game, but finished with just two points on 1-of-9 shooting. As a team, Gustavus shot just 38.6-percent from the floor (17-of-44). A silver lining may be that the Gusties were 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to raise the team’s 3-point shooting percentage that came into the game ranked last in the MIAC.
Bergeson and Bolger led the Cobbers with 15 (5-for-7) and 14 points (7-for-16), respectively. Bolger also tallied eight rebounds to help the Cobbers out-rebound Gustavus 32-29.
“Not only do we need to shake this one off, but we need to learn from it,” said Hanson. “As we always do, we’ll review the film and continue to try and make improvements.”
Gustavus will look to bounce back on Saturday when it plays its second of three consecutive home games against Saint John’s University. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Gus Young Court.