Written by Ethan Kalmes ’24
SAINT PETER, Minn. – After physical and hard fought battle between the Golden Gusties and the Royals, Gustavus swept Bethel for the first time in 11 years. The victory was led by the senior convoy of Nolan Malo (Sr., Owatonna), Kaleb Feahn (Sr., Waseca), and Pete Lundquist (Sr., Rochester). Clutch shots from the field and free throw line down the stretch resulted in a 89-86 Gustie win on Saturday afternoon. The men’s basketball team improves their record to 8-6 overall and 5-4 in the MIAC, while the Royals fall to 8-7 overall and 5-6 in the league.
“It was great for a couple reasons, first off it really a fun game for any fan to watch,” said Head Coach Mark Hanson. “Then to see a senior win a game on a last possession shot I think is always exciting, and after being shut down the last few games it was nice to just play again.”
The Gusties cut the lead to two after Malo converted on a tough layup in the paint. The Gusties locked down on defense and forced Bethel to miss which was then followed by a clutch three-pointer by Malo with 13.7 seconds left on the clock to go ahead 87-86. Feahn knocked down two free throws to close out the game.
Malo grabbed seven rebounds and three assists to go along with his 18 points. Feahn dished out three assists to go with his 18 points and four rebounds. Finally, Lundquist posted 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
The Gusties and Royals kept it close throughout the MIAC contest with the largest first half lead when the Royals went on a 9-2 run with 7:55 left making the score 33-26. However, the largest lead of the game came 48 seconds into the second half with the Gusties going up by 8, 52-44. The Royals found their largest lead of the second half with 8:05 remaining when they went up by six, 79-73. That is when the Gusties began to string together a series of baskets down the stretch including Benji Lundberg (Sr., Ellendale) knocking down a huge three-pointer to tie the game 79-79 with 5:59 left.
Gustavus shot 35-63 (55.6%) from the floor and went 13-25 (52%) from three-point range. The Gusties shared the ball well totaling 22 assists compared to the Royals 15 assists. They were strong in the paint defensively with five blocks.
“We were sticking with them the whole time and seeing that shot go down was an amazing feeling,” said Malo. After the win this afternoon the Gusties are currently 4th place in the MIAC and will face off against St. Olaf at home on Wednesday night.