MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team erased an early seven-point deficit and traded the lead nine times with Concordia, eventually leading to an 81-74 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties improve to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers drop to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.
Concordia led by as much as seven point in the first half on four different occasions throughout the first six minutes before the Gusties went on a 10-1 run to gain their first lead of the game at 19-17 with 11:17 on the clock. In a true back-and-forth battle, the lead changed hands seven more times to end the half at 43-39 in favor of the Cobbers.
Gustavus opened the second half with 10 straight points and shut out the Cobbers for nearly five minutes before making their first basket of the half. Concordia closed the gap to one point after a pair of free throws at the 12:23 mark but the Gusties slowly increased their lead to as much as 11 points twice.
“I was quite happy with the guys’ work today,” Head Coach Justin DeGrood said. “Wins are hard to come by, especially on the road. In the first half we did a really nice job of controlling tempo, however, we didn’t execute our defensive game plan well. We played hard but made too many errors in finishing possessions and communication breakdowns.
“The second half I was really proud of the way we settled in defensively and strung some stops together. Offensively, I liked the rhythm and sharing of the ball. The men picked their spots well in where to be aggressive and where to make Concordia guard for a few more rotations. It’s a process with this group and every day we are striving to be just a little bit better than the day before and I think our guys earned that today.”
Evan Wieker (Jr., St. Michael) led the team on both ends of the court with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Adam Biewen (Jr., Golden Valley) and Jordan Schommer (Sr., Merrifield) were next with 13 points apiece. Brady Kienitz (So., Raymond) also reached double figures with 10 points.
The Gusties shot 51.9 percent from the floor and made 10-of-19 three-pointers. Concordia shot 44.6 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc. The Gusties controlled the boards, out-rebounding the Cobbers 35-22.
Gustavus next host Macalester at 1 p.m. next Saturday.