COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team fell to No. 11 Saint John’s on Wednesday night by a score of 83-54. With the loss the Gusties fall to 5-9 overall and 2-7 in MIAC play while the Johnnies move to 12-1 and 8-0 in conference.
The Johnnies jumped on the Gusties early taking a 23-4 lead in the first 7:16 of play. Gustavus was able to muster a 10-3 run of their own to shrink the deficit to 12 but the teams traded baskets late in the half with the Johnnies managing a 39-24 lead headed into the break.
Saint John’s started the second half on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 24 and they kept building on it from there on out. They got their lead to 60-30 with 11:51 to play and the teams went back and forth until the final buzzer with the Johnnies maintaining a 25 to 32 point lead the entire time.
In the contest the Gusties shot 34 percent from the field while the Johnnies shot 54.5 percent. Both teams shot the ball well from behind the arc with Gustavus shooting 44.4 percent and Saint John’s making 46.7 percent of it’s three point attempts.
Rebounding proved to be a big difference in the contest with the Johnnies holding a 45-23 advantage.
Vannis Smith (Jr., Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Spencer Tollefson (Sr., New Richland, Minn.) led all Gustie scorers with eight points apiece.
The Gusties will have the weekend off and next be in action on Wednesday when they host Macalester for a 7 p.m. contest.