MOORHEAD, Minn. - After its slowest start to a game all season long, the Gustavus men's basketball team collected itself in the second half Saturday at Concordia to complete the series sweep with a 65-50 victory. The Gusties (15-3) have won six straight and are 9-0 in the MIAC for the first time since the 1954-55 season.
The Gusties had a tremendously slow start, missing their first 10 shots from the floor before
Brady Kienitz hit a three-pointer to snap a scoreless streak of 9:31. Concordia also had a slow start, missing its first six shots, but then went on a 10-0 run. Trailing 13-3 midway through the first, the Gusties finally started to find an offensive rhythm, thanks in part to consecutive threes by Kienitz, cutting the deficit to two points at 14-12. A few minutes later, Kienitz made an and-one layup, cutting the deficit to one, and then
Myles Barnette made a jumper at the 5:22 mark for the Gusties' first lead of the game at 19-18. The lead switched sides three more times in the half, resulting in a 27-25 Cobber advantage after 20 minutes. Kienitz kept the Gusties in the game with 14 first half points, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 (3-3 3PT) from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line.
Gustavus had a completely opposite start to the second half as
Evan Wieker made his first four shots, scoring the Gusties' first nine points of the half for a 34-27 lead. The Gusties opened the second half on a 17-2 run and never looked back. The Gusties took their largest lead of 15 points on a
Carson Koch layup with 10:33 left in the game and then again at the end of the contest at 65-50.
After shooting a pedestrian 34.8 percent in the first half, the Gusties shot 59.3 percent in the second for a total of 48.0 percent. The Gusties edged the Cobbers 35-31 in rebounds. Wieker led the team with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Kienitz finished with 15 points, while Barnette added 14 points off the bench.
Spencer Swanson grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and added six points, two blocks, and two steals.
"What an incredible battle that was. On the road, versus a really tough opponent, we were tested both physically and mentally," said Head Coach
Justin DeGrood. "The calm of our guys during the slow offensive stretch was admirable. When things don't seem to be going your way you need to lean into your habits and be confident in the preparation. The men did that. Our defense was really sound and tough all night and that really helped us weather that first quarter. For the last 30 minutes I was quite pleased with our determination of great possessions on both ends. As a result I think the shooting percentage took off, only two turnovers in the second half and played really fun team defense that forced some tough attempts. The physicality in that game, by both teams, was something else and we are fortunate to head back home with a victory."
Gustavus hosts Macalester on Wednesday night for its next MIAC matchup. The Gusties beat the Scots 64-61 on Jan. 8.
