Hot Shooting, Solid Defense Leads Men’s Basketball To 78-55 Win At Augsburg

BOX SCORE

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team Monday shot nearly 60 percent from the field, while holding Augsburg to 37 percent in a 78-55 win to complete the series sweep. Both the offensive and opponent’s shooting percentages were season bests for the Gusties as they improve to 5-14 overall and 5-9 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

“You can’t shoot 60 percent for the game and not be pleased with the offense,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “We had a few too many turnovers in the second half, but I thought we had a solid showing on offense.”

After the first few possessions of the game Augsburg held a 5-4 lead, but that would be its last of the game as Gustavus scored 12 unanswered points and led the rest of the game. The Auggies cut the lead down to five at 28-23 with 6:53 remaining in the first half, but the Gusties ended the opening frame with a 14-8 run and took a 42-31 lead into the locker room. The Black and Gold were red hot in the first 20 minutes, making 18-of-29 shots (62.1 percent).

The visitors increased their lead to 19 points in the first six minutes of the second half and never looked back. Gustavus led by as much as 25 points, marking its largest lead on the road this season.

Alec Koster (Sr., Redwood Falls, Minn.) led the Gusties with a career-high 20 points on nearly perfect shooting. Koster was 8-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.

“Alec played well on both ends of the court I think he really needed that,” Hanson said. “Hopefully this is a good sign of more things to come.”

Riley Sharbono (So., Marshall, Minn.), Kelsey Thomas (Jr., Wiesbaden, Germany), and Austin Goetz (Jr., Chaska, Minn.) also reached double figures with 14, 14, and 11 points, respectively. Goetz’ 11 points also marked a career-high. Sharbono, Thomas, and Peter Kruize (Sr., St. Peter, Minn.) led the Gusties down low with six rebounds apiece.

Gustavus won the battle of the boards 37-26 and outscored Augsburg’s bench 31-14.

“When you’ve been struggling to get wins and you get one on somebody else’s home court, and against a good team, that builds a little confidence which clearly we need going into St. Thomas on Wednesday. Hopefully that works in our favor,” Hanson said.

Gustavus next travels to first place St. Thomas (15-4, 11-3 MIAC) for a 7 p.m. tipoff Wednesday.