BOX SCORE | PHOTO GALLERY (D3photography.com)
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team opened the D3hoops.com Classic Wednesday with a 78-57 loss to No. 11 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. The defeat drops the Gusties to 2-6 overall, while the Blugolds improve to 9-1.
Riley Sharbono (So., Marshall, Minn.) led Gustavus with 13 points. Jason Faul (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) hauled in a team-best seven rebounds, while Peter Kruize (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) led the Gusties off the bench with nine points. As a team, the Black and Gold shot 36.5 percent from the floor, while the Blugolds shot 64.4 percent. Four Blugolds reached double digit points, led by Josh Weix with 25 points.
Gustavus went point-for-point with UW-Eau Claire to start the game with a 7-5 lead, but that would be its last of the game as the Blugolds went on a 9-2 run and led the rest of the way. UW-Eau Claire led 33-21 at halftime.
After missing their first three shots from the floor to start the second half, the Gusties found a rhythm and made three of their next four shots, including back-to-back three-pointers to cut the deficit to six (38-32) at the 16:39 mark. The Blugolds maintained a 6-to-8-point advantage for the next three minutes before going on a 20-9 run to separate themselves the rest of the game.
Gustavus concludes play at the D3hoops.com Classic today with a 6 p.m. matchup against Ramapo.