ARDEN HILLS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team won its third consecutive game Monday night, defeating Bethel 70-62 to improve to 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the MIAC. The win snaps a nine-game losing streak against the Royals, while dropping Bethel to 3-4 overall and 3-2 in the league.
After six lead changes in the first five minutes of the game, Benji Lundberg (Jr., Ellendale) hit a jumper to give the Gusties a 9-8 lead and the visitors never trailed the rest of the game. Lundberg’s jumper sparked a 12-0 run, capped by a Nolan Malo (Jr., Owatonna) trey to give the Gusties a 19-8 advantage and force a Bethel timeout with 10:01 remaining in the half.
The Royals fought their way back to cut the deficit to two at 25-23 with 2:44 on the clock, but the Gusties closed out the first 20 minutes with a 29-25 lead.
A couple layups by Lundberg and Evan Wieker (Fy., St. Michael) gave the Gusties a 40-30 lead with 12:31 to go before the Royals once again climbed back into the game with a 17-8 run over the next five minutes to cut the lead to one at 48-47. Leading 56-51 with 3:31 left on the clock, Logan Rezac (Sr., Andover) made a couple clutch shots followed by a Kaleb Feahn (Sr., Waseca) three to force a Bethel timeout and put the Gusties up 62-51 with 2:05 left. The Royals would not go quietly and cut the deficit to six (66-60) with 20 seconds left but the Gusties made their final four shots from the free throw line to secure the victory.
“We struggled to get the ball in bound at the end of the game but in the last three minutes we had some good possession on both ends,” Head Coach Mark Hanson said. “We made our free throws and those things really lend themselves to looking confident.”
Gustavus shot 48.2 percent from the floor and 12-of-14 from the charity stripe. Bethel was held to 37.1 percent shooting. The Royals won the rebound battle 36-31 but turned the ball over 14 times compared to 12 by the Gusties.
Feahn led the offense with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He also hauled in five rebounds. Malo added 15 points and five rebounds, while Rezac chipped in 13 points, four rebounds, and three steals.
“Kaleb can do some stuff one on one but those opportunities come from what the whole offense is doing,” Hanson said. “Logan probably made some of the biggest tough plays from a defensive effort and made some clutch baskets.”
Gustavus hosts Augsburg at 7 p.m. in its final home game of the season.