SAINT PETER, Minn. – After finishing its last game with a whimper, the Gustavus men’s basketball team ended Wednesday night’s game with a bang, defeating Hamline 88-81 in overtime. The Gusties, now 2-3 overall, overcame six lead changes and seven ties to remain unbeaten in the MIAC at 2-0, while the Pipers drop to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the league.
“In the last three games, we’ve had leads that we gave up and it was important that we came out with a win in this one,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “It makes you forget a little bit about giving up the lead and I thought we ran some really good offense in the overtime that is the kind of play we need to carry throughout the whole game.”
Gustavus led by as much as six points to start the game and held the advantage for the first 15 minutes. Hamline was able to grab a 31-30 lead with 4:57 on the clock before the Gusties closed out the half on an 11-5 run and held a 43-38 advantage at the break.
Four minutes into the second half, Benji Lundberg (So., Ellendale) made a spinning assist to Peter Lundquist (Jr., Rochester) for a dunk, giving the home team a 49-42 lead, but the Pipers responded with eight unanswered points to jump in front. The Hamline lead didn’t last long, though, as the Gusties slowed gained ground and eventually went up 10 points on a three-pointer from Isaac Douglas (Jr., Montevideo) with 5:20 left in regulation. The Pipers again fought back and were able to tie the score at 71 with an athletic layup with just 23 seconds left on the clock. The Gusties missed two shots in the final seconds and the game was sent to overtime.
The two teams traded buckets to start the overtime, but the Gusties followed with three consecutive made shots, capped by another crucial trey by Douglas to go up seven points with two minutes left. Gustavus was able to fend off the Piper comeback bid and secured the victory.
Nolan Malo (So., Owatonna) scored a game-high 22 points, including four three-pointers. Douglas tallied 15 points and Marten Morem (So., Caledonia) added 13 points off the bench. Lundberg hauled in a team-high nine rebounds.
The Gusties outshot the Pipers 47.1-to-37.2 percent from the floor. The home team also had a successful night in the post, outrebounding the Pipers 43-36. Jake Guse (So., Waseca) was a presence down low, making four blocks and seven rounds.
Gustavus next travels to St. Thomas for a 1 p.m. tipoff Saturday.
“We need to just continue to work on everything,” Hanson said. “It’s so early in the season. The reality is whatever happened here tonight, practice needs to be the same tomorrow. It’s just a little bit easier to go to practice tomorrow.”