Moorhead, Minn. – Tied 46-46 with 1:08 remaining, Martin Feddersen (Jr., Winona, Minn.) made one of two free throws to give the Gustavus men’s basketball team a one-point lead over Concordia College on Saturday afternoon. The free throw proved to be the deciding score in a dramatic 49-46 win for the Gusties at Memorial Auditorium. It was the first win decided by less than 10 points for the Gustie men this season.
Brody Ziegler (So., Mankato, Minn.) led Gustavus in scoring with 16 points on 6 of 7 shooting, while Concordia’s Jordan Bolger led all scorers with 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting. With this afternoon’s result, the Gusties improve to 12-5 overall and 9-3 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers drop to 8-9 overall and 4-8 in league play.
The two teams struggled offensively through the first half of play. Neither team would lead by more than five points, as Concordia took a three-point lead (26-23) into halftime. Brandon Giese gave the Cobbers the narrow lead with just six seconds left in the half when he nailed a triple to break a 23-23 tie.
Gustavus shot just 38.1 percent (8-21) from the field, while Concordia shot 40 percent (10-25) from the floor and 12.5 percent (1-8) from the three-point line.
The two squads settled back into their defensive battle, as neither team would lead by more five points. Concordia went on a 6-0 run to take a five-point lead before the Gusties went on a 6-1 run of their own to tie the game at 37 apiece.
The two teams would tie five times throughout the second half, the last of which came with 2:37 remaining in the game when Brody Ziegler hit a jumper to bring the score to 46-46.
Three missed free throws later , Martin Feddersen finally connected on a shot from the charity stripe to give Gustavus a one-point lead (47-46) with 1:08 to play. After missing his second shot, Feddersen forced a Cobber turnover on the next possession.
However, the Gusties could not maintain possession, as they turned the ball back over to the Cobbers with 43 seconds remaining. Concordia then missed a three-point attempt that was rebounded by Coleman Sweeney (Fr., Lake City, Minn.). Sweeney was immediately fouled and made both free throw tries to give his team a three-point lead (49-46) with 27 seconds left.
On its next trip down the floor, Concordia missed a three-point attempt, but snagged the offensive rebound to give itself another chance with eight ticks left on the clock. The Cobbers threw up one last attempt to tie the game, but it was off the mark and the Gusties escaped with the dramatic victory.
After a below average shooting performance in the first half, Gustavus came back to shoot 55 percent (11-20) in the second half for a 46.3 percent (19-41) mark for the game. The Gusties also held the Cobbers to just 23.8 percent (5-21) shooting in the second half and 32.6 percent (15-46) for the game.
Following Ziegler’s team-high 16 points was Martin Feddersen with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Feddersen, along with Chad Poppen (Fr., St. Peter, Minn.), each grabbed a team-high five rebounds, while Feddersen also led the team in assists with four.
Jordan Bolger led all players in both scoring and rebounding with 17 points and eight boards.
Gustavus will be back in action on Wednesday, Jan. 29th when it travels to Minneapolis for an MIAC contest with Augsburg at 7:00 p.m.