COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with No. 2 Saint John’s in the first half Wednesday night, but the Johnnies pulled away in the second for a 68-59 victory. The Gusties drop to 8-11 overall and 8-6 in the MIAC, while the Johnnies claim their 18th consecutive win improve to 18-1 overall and 14-0 in the league.
Gustavus started the game with a 4-0 lead before the Johnnies scored seven straight over the following two minutes. A three pointer by Isaac Douglas (Jr., Montevideo) at the 7:28 mark of the first tied the score at 23-23, but the Johnnies ensued with 10 unanswered points and never relinquished the lead. The Gusties closed out the first on a 9-3 run to make the score 35-32 at the break.
Gustavus cut the deficit to two on another trey by Douglas early the second half and again kept it within two as Kaleb Feahn (Jr., Waseca) made a layup at the 17:28 mark before Saint John’s responded with a 12-2 run over the next seven minutes. The Johnnies maintained a double digit lead until consecutive threes by Benji Lundberg (So., Ellendale) closed out the game.
In a tale of two halves, the Gusties shot 51.9 percent in the first and then dropped to 37 percent in the second. The Gusties did well on the boards, out-rebounding the Johnnies 28-27 but were outscored in the paint 46-24.
Peter Lundquist (Jr., Rochester) scored a team-high 16 points off the bench on 8-of-11 shooting. Feahn and Douglas added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Gustavus returns home Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff against St. Thomas.