CHICAGO, Ill. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team opened its 2017-18 season with a 70-66 overtime loss against the Illinois Institute of Technology at the North Park University Invitational.
Gustavus shot 27-for-60 for a 45 percent field goal percentage while going 6-for-18 from beyond the arc in its season opening loss, led by a 16-point performance from Riley Sharbono (Jr., Marshall, Minn.).
The Gusties got of to the right start, leading 11-4 early on and jumping out to its largest lead of the game at 25-10 with 8:39 remaining in the first half. However, the Black and Gold saw its lead dwindle as IIT went on a 26-7 run to close out the half with a 36-32 lead. Gustavus shot 11-26 from the field in the half.
The two teams were neck and neck in the second half while the Scarlet Hawks were able to maintain their lead for the majority of the 20 minutes until the Gusties eventually forced an overtime period tied at 60-60. A layup from Sharbono to open the extra period gave Gustavus its first lead since in the first half at 62-60, but IIT responded and outscored the Gusties 10-6 to close out the game.
Three other Gusties tallied double-digit performances. Jason Faul (Sr., Prior Lake, Minn.) went 6-8 from the field with 15 points, followed by 11 points from Vannis Smith (So., Crystal Lake, Ill.) and 10 from Kelsey Thomas (Sr., Wiesbaden, Germany).
Gustavus, 0-1 overall, concludes play at the North Park Invite tomorrow evening with a game against Blackburn College at 5 p.m.