ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team improved to 2-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Saturday with an 83-68 victory at Macalester College. The Gusties never trailed throughout the game and took advantage of their opportunities from the free throw line, making 20-of-22.
“Since we put them on the line so many times, it was important that we shot our free throws well,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “Spencer Tollefson (So., New Richland, Minn.) had a good game from the line and we did a nice job of getting the ball into the post. We rebounded well and not giving them extra opportunities is important. It was also great to have so many players contribute.”
All five Gustavus starters reached double figures, led by Tollefson with a career-high 16 points – the bulk coming from the charity stripe as he made 10-of-10 free throws. Kelsey Thomas (Jr., Wiesbaden, Germany), Riley Sharbono (So., Marshall, Minn.), Peter Kruize (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.), and Alec Koster (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) added 14, 13, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Thomas hauled in 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Gustavus set the tone early as it jumped out to a 17-2 advantage in the first 6:20. The Scots battled back with a 13-4 run, cutting the deficit to six points, but the Gusties responded with 12-3 run of their own and went into the locker room with a 41-28 lead.
Macalester cut the lead to five points within the first three minutes of the second half, but once again the Gusties had an answer and slowly increased the difference for the remainder of the game.
The Gusties did most of their offensive damage down low, outscoring the Scots 50-24 points in the paint. The Black and Gold also outrebounded the home team 42-22.
Gustavus next travels to St. Olaf on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.