ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team used another strong second half to come away with a 97-90 victory over Buena Vista University on Sunday evening to improve to 2-1 overall. Much like the strong start to the second half in their last outing against Simpson, the Gusties started today’s second frame with a 17-2 run to take a 62-55 lead and never looked back.
Gary Cooper (Sr., Detroit, Mich.) led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. Cooper also led the Gusites in the rebounding category with six. Chad Poppen (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.), Peter Kruize (Jr., St. Peter, Minn.), Riley Sharbono (Fy., Marshall, Minn.) and Brody Ziegler (Sr., Mankato, Minn.) also reached double figures scoring with 14, 13, 12 and 12 points, respectively.
Gustavus started the contest on the right foot with a 15-8 lead before the Beavers quickly charged back into the game with 10 unanswered points to take an 18-15 advantage with 12:30 on the clock. Buena Vista continued its offensive pressure over the next three minutes and led by as much as seven points at 29-22. A pair of jump shots by Ziegler and Kruize got the Gusties within two points and then a three-pointer from Cooper tied the game at 29-29 at the 8:41 mark. But BVU controlled the pace of play for the remainder of the half as it went on a 24-16 run and led 53-45 at the break.
The Gusties made key adjustments at halftime and stole the momentum back by outscoring the Beavers 17-2 in the first five minutes to take a 62-55 lead and never trailed the rest of the game. Gustavus increased its lead to as much as 11 points at 92-81 with 4:29 remaining in the game, but the Beavers would not go without a fight and scored nine unanswered points to trail by only two points with two minutes to play. The Gusties regained their composure and were able to finish the game strong with good defensive play, holding the Beavers scoreless over the final two minutes.
Gustavus improved upon its first half shooting of 47.1-percent (16-34) from the field to 64.5-percent (20-31) in the final 20 minutes for a total of 55.4-percent on the day. Buena Vista went the other direction, shooting 65.5-percent (19-29) in the first half and then fell to 44.4-percent (12-27) in the second. Rebounds were close with Gustavus edging BVU 31-29. The Beavers committed 15 turnovers compared to 10 by the Gusties. Both teams had plenty of opportunities from beyond the arc as Gustavus shot 9-of-20 from three-point land compared to 8-of-19 from the Beavers.
Gustavus begins Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Saint Mary’s University at Gus Young Court.