MOORHEAD, Minn. – After shooting a meager 35.3 percent from the floor in the first half Wednesday, the Gustavus men’s basketball team found its stride in the second by shooting 62.1 percent en route to a 78-58 win at Concordia to complete the series sweep. The Gusties improve to 6-9 overall and 6-4 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers drop to 2-12 overall and 0-9 in the league.
“I think we’ve seen some solid improvement,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said in regard to the team’s progression throughout the season. “We’ve been steady on both ends of the court lately. Defensively, we are in better position to not put so much stress on the offense to make it feel like we have to score all the time. So I like the consistency of our defense right now.”
The Gustie defense limited the Cobbers to 35.9 percent shooting, while holding them to under 60 points for the second time this year. Jake Guse (So., Waseca) led the defensive effort with his third five-block performance of the season, along with seven rebounds and 13 points.
In 19 minutes off the bench, Peter Lundquist (Jr., Rochester) paced the offense with 15 points. Nolan Malo (So., Owatonna) (13), Kaleb Feahn (Jr., Waseca) (11), and Logan Rezac (Jr., Andover) (10) also contributed double figure scoring.
Guse made the opening bucket of the game and the Gusties never trailed throughout 40 minutes of play. The defense held the Cobbers scoreless for the first 3:14 of the game and didn’t allow them to reach double digits until there was 7:10 left in the first half. Concordia made a run, going on an 11-2 spree to close the gap to 23-20 with 4:47 left in the half, but the Gusties were able to go into halftime with a 31-25 advantage.
The shooting improved drastically in the second half for the Gusties as they had a string of seven-straight made to go ahead 52-37 with 10:15 on the clock. In the final 20 minutes of play, Gustavus made 18-of-29 from the floor, while making 10-of-12 free throws to close out the game.
“In the first half we took rushed shots and took open shots poorly,” Hanson said. “We also missed good shots. But in the second half we made a concerted effort to take better shots and that was reflected in our percentage.”
The Gusties controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Cobbers 42-29. They also outscored the Cobbers 38-18 in the paint.
Gustavus next hosts Augsburg at 1 p.m. Saturday.