SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team claimed an 83-69 win against Hamline on Wednesday night to complete the series sweep. The Gusties, who have won five of their last six, improve to 8-9 overall and 8-4 in the MIAC, while the Pipers drop to 3-13 overall and 1-10 in the league.
Kaleb Feahn (Jr., Waseca) shot 8-of-14 from the field with four three-pointers for a team-high 24 points. As a team, the Gusties played well down low, winning the rebound battle 45-30.
“We had a good size advantage tonight so that helped with the rebounding, but I think Benji Lundberg (So., Ellendale) with seven boards was significant for someone who doesn’t have a size advantage,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “We had 20 rebounds from Benji and [Logan] Rezac (Jr., Andover) and those are important rebounds.”
A couple lead changes and five ties in the first 6:25 of the game led the a 16-13 Gustavus advantage and the visitors never trailed the rest of the way. The Pipers made a run late in the first half to bring their deficit to two at 38-36 with 31 seconds left, but a last second three by Rezac gave the Gusties a 41-36 lead at halftime.
Gustavus opened the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 54-41 lead at the 16:14 mark and didn’t allow the Pipers to get closer than eight points the rest of the game. A layup by Feahn with 6:23 left in the game gave the Gusties their largest lead at 77-60.
Nolan Malo (So., Owatonna) scored 16 points for the second straight game, shooting 6-of-11 from the field with a pair of three-pointers. Rezac posted his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Jake Guse (So., Waseca) was also strong on the boards with 11.
The Gusties shot 50 percent and made 8-of-19 threes. They also shot well at the free throw line, going 9-for-12. The Pipers were limited to 42.4 percent shooting and made 9-of-23 threes.
“There’s an increased level of confidence,” Hanson said. “But now there’s also a higher level of expectation.”
Gustavus travels to Macalester on Saturday for a 1 p.m. tipoff.