ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team suffered an 87-72 loss to No. 5 St. Thomas on Wednesday night, snapping a four-game win streak. It was a tale of two halves for the Gustie offense as it shot 33.3 percent (8-24) in the first, and 69.2 percent (18-26) in the second. The Gusties fall to 9-11 overall and 6-9 in the MIAC, while the Tommies extend their win streak to 14 with an overall record of 18-1 and a 13-1 mark in the league.
After starting the game down 0-2, Gustavus scored five unanswered points on a layup from Gary Cooper (Sr., Detroit, Mich.) and a three-pointer by Chris Narum (Sr., Eagan, Minn.), but that would be the last lead of the game for the Gusties as the Tommies responded with a 15-2 run and never looked back. St. Thomas held Gustavus scoreless for a four-minute span and went into the locker room at halftime with a 47-23 advantage.
The Tommies maintained a comfortable lead for the first seven minutes of the second half, leading by at least 16 points during that span, but the Gusties would not go quietly and answered with a 13-5 run to cut the deficit to 11 (64-53) at the 9:37 mark. The Tommies kept the Gusties at bay, though, not giving up their double-digit lead en route to a 15-point victory.
Riley Sharbono (Fy., Marshall, Minn.) led the Gusties offensively with 18 points off the bench, tying a season-high. Sharbono was 5-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Cooper and Brody Ziegler (Sr., Mankato, Minn.) also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Gustavus shot 52 percent (26-50) from the floor, while the Tommies shot 57.1 percent (36-63). St. Thomas out-rebounded the Gusties 32-25 and committed 12 turnovers to Gustavus’s 13. All five starters for St. Thomas scored double digits, led by Taylor Montero with 16 points.
Gustavus continues its road trip with a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Concordia.