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January 13, 2010

Gustavus knock off St. Thomas at home

Gusties now in sole possession of first place in MIAC

Tyler Buckentine

ST PETER — With the game winding down and intensity bursting from Gus Young Court, Seth Anderson gave the Gustavus Adolphus men’s basketball team all the offense he could and Jesse Van Sickle provided two huge stops.

In the end, it was enough for the Gusties to knock off No. 5 St. Thomas 56-51 and take over first place in the MIAC in front of an estimated 1,700 fans Wednesday night.

“How about that crowd, it was fun to be a part of this tonight,” said Anderson, a sophomore guard.

Anderson, fresh off four straight free throws, drove baseline and threw up a reverse layup as he fell to the floor to give the Gusties the lead for good with 1:24 remaining. Van Sickle came up with a steal at halfcourt on the Tommies’ next possession, and with the Gustavus clinging to a three-point lead, he forced another turnover with 13 seconds on the clock.

“(The steals) were big because they weren’t able to get any shots off in the final minute,” said Van Sickle, who iced the game with one made free throw.

“(Van Sickle) did a nice job playing the pass and had some nice timing there,” Gusties coach Mark Hanson said.

The Gusties opened the game on a 9-1 run, but the Tommies rallied back with a 11-0 run to take a 21-20 lead with 4:49 left in the first half.

“Basketball is a game of runs that it looks dramatic when the score is 9-1,” Hanson said. “They had a big run too that got them back into the game.”

St. Thomas tied the game at 26 just before the half on a 3-pointer by Alex Healy. The Gusties led for most of the second half but never by more than six points.

Tyler Nicolai hit a 3-pointer to give the Tommies a one-point lead with 3:50 to go, but Anderson knocked down a pair of free throws to restore the advantage. Anderson hit all seven of his free throws when the rest of the team went 4 for 12.

“Any given night, anybody can step up and be the leading scorer,” said Anderson, who scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half. “Tonight was just my turn to step up.”

Momentum shifted back toward St. Thomas when Nicolai hit another 3 and Van Sickle had a shot blocked the next trip down, but Anderson knocked down two more free throws to tie the game 45 seconds before he made his game-winning reverse layup.

“Sometimes you just get lucky with shots like that,” Anderson said. “I was trying to beat him baseline, and he closed it off so the only shot I had was a reverse.”

The Gusties improve to 10-3 and remain undefeated atop the MIAC with an 8-0 record. They face Bethel at 3 p.m. Saturday at Arden Hills.

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