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February 7, 2009

Frigid Gusties fall to Pipers

By Jim Rueda

ST PETER — The timing wasn’t exactly right for an off night at Gus Young Court.

With more then 100 alumni players and friends in attendance to help celebrate a century of men’s basketball at Gustavus Adolphus College, the Gusties laid an egg against Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Hamline.

The normally hot-shooting Gusties converted just 33.3 percent (21 of 63) of their shots and wound up on the losing end of a 70-59 score in front of nearly 1,000 fans.

Gustavus is in the top three in the league in 3-point shooting but failed to convert a basket from beyond the arc the entire game.

“We just didn’t play very well,” an obviously disappointed Gustavus coach Mark Hanson said afterward. We had some good looks with guys like Rob Schmidt and Jesse Van Sickle and Tyler Grey but they wouldn’t go in. I’d go into a 3-point shooting contest with those three guys any day, but not today.”

But while the Gusties struggled from long range (0 for 12), they didn’t exactly set the nets ablaze from 2-point range either. Gustavus finished 21 of 51 (41 percent) in 2-point attempts.

“Defensively they put us on our heels and we never got into an offensive rhythm,” Hanson said.

Despite the cold shooting the Gusties stayed with Hamline the entire first half, trailing just 32-27 at the break. The Pipers quickly pulled away in the second, going on a 12-2 run in the first five minutes. Gustavus could never get closer than five points the rest of the game.

Tony Thrasher led Hamline with 20 points. Ryan McPartland and Dan Schmidtknecht scored 12 points apiece for Gustavus. The Pipers (8-13, 7-10 in MIAC) won the battle of the boards 43-34.

Gustavus (10-10, 9-6) is back on Gus Young Court at 7:30 p.m. Monday for another MIAC game against Carleton.

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