Men’s Basketball Wins Defensive Battle With Carleton 67-61 Posted on February 2nd, 2019 by

Photo courtesy of Matt Berkner, Gustavus Sports Information.

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SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball took a 67-61 victory over Carleton at Gus Young Court on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Gusties improve to 10-11 overall and 7-9 in the MIAC while the Knights fall to 6-15 overall and 4-12 in the league.

“I appreciated our defense,” said head coach Mark Hanson. “Even some of the shots they made were well contested and defended. Offensively I felt good with the exception of a few turnovers especially the one at the end that made my heart skip a few beats. There were times when I thought we ran some really fluid offense and then there were times that, credit to their defense, we got a little stale. It was an important win for us, in the scheme of playoffs but building the idea of playing in tough games for some of our younger guys.”

The game got off to a slow start with neither team registering a basket in the first two minutes of play. The Gusties were able to go on a 9-0 run to start the contest until the Knights responded with their first bucket at the 15:14 mark. The two teams traded scores until Gustavus got its lead to 21-12 on a Logan Rezac (So., Andover, Minn.) jumper. The Knights responded by closing the half on a 9-6 run to go into the half trailing the Gusties 27-22.

The second half was a different story though as both teams shot much better and were able to sustain offense. After the Knights went on a spurt to start the half, the Gusties responded with a 17-5 run capped by an Isaac Douglas (So., Montevideo, Minn.) bucket to take a 53-38 lead with 7:28 to play. Carleton got hot though as it went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to six. A Riley Sharbono (Sr., Marshall, Minn.) basket extended the lead back to eight but the Knights responded with a three to slash to the deficit to five. From the 3:15 mark to the 1:14 mark the Gusties were able to build on their lead to nine thanks to three-straight two-for-two trips to the free throw line and just one Carleton basket in the process. Gustavus got a scare late as it saw the Knights storm back to within four but they were never able to cut the deficit within a possession and the Gusties escaped with the victory.

Rezac led all Gustavus scorers with 15 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting while Sharbono, Douglas, and Nolan Malo (Fy., Owatonna, Minn.) all put up double-figures as well with Malo adding eight rebounds.

The Gusties will next be in action on Monday when they host St. Thomas for a 7 p.m. contest.

 

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