SAINT PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team travels to Concordia Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest with their playoff hopes on the line. The Gusties (10-14, 7-12 MIAC) are currently one game behind Hamline in the MIAC standings but they hold the tiebreaker, so a Hamline loss to Bethel paired with a Gustie win would push the Black and Gold into the playoffs.
The Series
Saturday’s contest marks the 184th all-time meeting between the two teams with the Gusties holding a 117-66 advantage. The two teams last met on Jan. 19, with the Gusties escaping with a 76-74 victory.
Scouting the Gusties
Gustavus is most recently coming off an 84-81 loss to Bethel on Wednesday. Through 24 games, the Gusties average 72.2 points and allow 77.0, marks which rank fifth and 10th respectively. Riley Sharbono, the teams leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, tied a season-high with 22 points on 9-15 shooting in the loss to Bethel. Nolan Malo is the other Gustie averaging double figures at 10.0 points per contest supplemented by a team leading 5.2 rebounds.
Scouting the Cobbers
The Cobbers are most recently coming off a 58-53 loss to Carleton on Wednesday that knocked them out of playoff contention. Through 24 games the Cobbers average 64.7 points and allow 71.8, marks which rank ninth and sixth in the conference respectively. Concordia has four players averaging double figures with Bryden Urie leading the way with 11.6 points per game. Jordan Davis, Collin Larson, and Thomas Schyma are the other three Cobbers averaging double figures with Schyma averaging a team best 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists.