ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team opened conference play Saturday with 71-67 win over the Bethel Royals. With the victory, the Gusties improve to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the MIAC.
Kaleb Feahn (Sr., Waseca) and Spencer Swanson (Fy., Waconia) led the Gustie scoring. Feahn shot 9-of-16 from the field for 22 points while Spencer Swanson went 6-for-8 from the field with 17 points. Adam Biewen led the team in rebounds with six.
The Royals got out to an early 5-0 lead before the Gusties regained the lead when a Pete Lundquist (Sr., Rochester) layup put them on top for an 8-5 advantage. Gustavus continued to stay strong on defensive rebounds with 13 in the first half but after trading leads four times, the Gusties trailed 38-35 at halftime.
Gustavus looked to make it up in the second half as Swanson lit up the court with seven straight points followed by a Feahn layup to even the game at 50-50 with 12:09 on the clock. Swanson added four more as Gustavus went on a 15-9 run. With under four minutes left in the second half, the Royals were able to catch up on free throws, making it a 67-64 game with 30 seconds remaining. Nolan Malo (Sr., Owatonna) remained solid on the charity stripe sinking a pair of free throws to give the Gusties breathing room in a 69-64 advantage. Bethel retaliated with a three-pointer as the game went down to the wire with a two-point lead. Gustavus took a final time out before Evan Wieker (So., St. Michael) added two more points for the Gusties and Feahn made the final rebound in the 71-67 victory.
Gustavus took advantage of 20 Bethel turnovers, scoring 23 points on the takeaway.
The Gusties are next in action when they continue conference play at St. Olaf on Tuesday night with a 7 p.m. tipoff.