MANKATO, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s basketball team traveled to Mankato on Monday night for a non-conference game against the Bethany Lutheran Vikings and took a 66-62 win. With the victory, the Gusties move to 3-3 overall and remain 1-1 in the MIAC. Jordan Schommer (Jr., Merrifield)had a team high 12 points and Nolan Malo (Sr., Owatonna) recorded eight rebounds.
The Vikings got out to an early 12-5 lead, before the Gusties responded accordingly with a 15-9 run and took their first lead with ten minutes left. The score evened at 28-28 and the Vikings held a one point lead at the 31-30 halftime. Gustavus had an advantage over Bethany close to the basket with a 26-21 edge in rebounds and outscored the Vikings in the paint 24-18, Kaleb Feahn (Sr., Waseca) led with eight points and Spencer Swanson (Fy., Waconia) recorded seven rebounds.
Right into the second half Schommer sank a three-pointer to reestablish a 33-31 Gustie advantage. The Vikings tied it at 37 and went on a 10-6 run before Malo made three jump shots for a 49-47 Gustavus lead. A Vikings 9-6 run put the pressure on as the Gusties held a 55-53 lead with six minutes remaining. Schommer kept the Gustie momentum, rattling out five more points for a 62-55 edge. The Vikings did not go down easily as they ran up a final 8-1 run with eight seconds remaining, Pete Lundquist (Sr., Rochester) and Schommer closed the door going for a perfect 4-4 from the line to seal the Gustie victory.
“We could have closed it out stronger if we had made a couple more free throws and not turned the ball over,” said Head Coach Mark Hanson. “Some of the more high pressure, intense situations are hard to simulate in practice so these in-game lessons are valuable.”
The Gusties are back in conference action when they travel to Carleton on Wednesday for a 7:00 start.