University of St. Thomas Athletics
Gustavus Adolphus
Men's Basketball holds on for 76-68 win over GAC
2/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Sophomore guard Joe Scott scored 25 points, including 4-of-4 free throws in the final 90 seconds, as No. 19-ranked St. Thomas held off visiting Gustavus 76-68 in MIAC men's basketball play Saturday afternoon at UST's Schoenecker Arena.
The Tommies (19-3 overall, 15-2 conference) secured a first-round MIAC playoff bye and opened a 2.5-game lead over the Gusties (16-5, 12-4) in the conference title race with three games left. Coach Steve Fritz' Tommies ran their home winning streak against MIAC opponents to 31, pushed their season win streak to nine, and avenged one of their two conference defeats.
B.J. Viau added 13 points and five rebounds and Teddy Archer scored 10 off the bench for the Tommies, who had only nine turnovers and shot 48% from the floor.
Gustavus cut an 18-point deficit to two points with 4:41 left, led by seniors Andrew Doble and Trevor Wittwer. Doble scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half and had a game-high seven rebounds. Wittwer scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime.
The Gusties shot 53% from the field but were outrebounded 32-28 and had 13 turnovers as they lost for the fifth season in a row at Schoenecker Arena.
UST led 40-27 at halftime, and pushed the lead to 59-41 on Viau's fast-break dunk with 15:40 to go. But the Gusties chipped away and pulled witin 63-61 with 4:40 remaining. Sophomore center Sam Eicher scored all six off his points off the bench over the next 2:00 to keep the Toms ahead, and Scott nailed a 3-point basket with 2:30 left for a 70-64 lead. Scott made two free throws with 22 seconds left to keep the lead at six points.
The Tommies need one win or one Gustie loss to secure a share of the their third consecutive MIAC championship, and two of the above will take the outright championship. Gustavus is home Monday to face Concordia and UST is home Wednesday to play surging Augsburg. The Toms close the regular season with tough tests at Concordia-Moorhead and St. John's in the last four days of the schedule.
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