MOORHEAD, Minn. – Behind the hot shooting of Peter Lundquist (Sr., Rochester) and Kaleb Feahn (Sr., Waseca), the Gustavus men’s basketball team beat Concordia 78-69 on Saturday afternoon. The Gusties win their second consecutive game to improve to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAC, while the Cobbers fall to 0-5 overall and 0-5 in the league.
“I think we’ve made some strides offensively and we started getting a feel for making the extra pass and running our offense, while also taking advantage of what their defense gave us,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “We had a size advantage and made an effort to get the ball inside, but when you get into a flow like we did today, the shots feel better.”
Concordia started the first four-plus minutes of the game with a 4-0 advantage before trading the lead five times throughout the first nine minutes of the half. A layup by Lundquist at the 9:05 mark gave the Gusties a 13-11 lead and proceeded to score 13 unanswered points over the next four minutes for a 26-11 advantage at the 5:37 mark. The two teams traded buckets the rest of the half and Gustavus went into the locker room at half with a 38-21 lead.
The Gusties led by as much as 20, four times, in the opening four minutes of the second half before the Cobbers went on a 13-2 run, cutting the lead to 52-43 with 12:20 left in the game. Gustavus was able to regain a double-digit advantage for the next three minutes, but once again the Cobbers clawed back and cut the lead down to six (68-62) with 4:03 on the clock. A layup by Feahn on the ensuing possession halted the home team’s momentum and the Gusties were able to fend off the Cobber comeback attempt.
Lundquist finished with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field, including 4-for-4 from the free throw line, while adding 11 rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.
“He is a difficult guy for people to guard because of his inside-outside ability,” Hanson said of Lundquist. “When he’s feeling it, it’s hard for anybody to stop him.”
Feahn was also productive on offense with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Logan Rezac (Sr., Andover) contributed nine points and seven rebounds.
The Gusties shot a season-high 52.6 percent from the floor and held the Cobbers to 37.3 percent. Over half of the Gusties’ points (40) came in the paint. The Gustie bench also out-scored the Cobber reserves 33-14. Gustavus, with a clear size-advantage, doubled up the Cobbers on the boards, out-rebounding the home team 44-22.
Gustavus next travels to Bethel on Monday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.