Despite an unusually cold shooting night (19-for-58--32.8%), the Gusties held off Saint Olaf (6-12, 3-10) to remain alone atop the MIAC. Gustavus struggled from the field right from the start and trailed the Oles 14-9 at the 11:41 mark of the first half. Coach Mark Hanson's squad settled down however, and outscored St. Olaf 18-5 the rest of the half to take a 27-19 lead into the lockerroom.
The Oles cut the lead to four at 29-25 early in the second half, however Gustavus countered with a 13-0 run to push the lead to 17 points at 42-25 with 14:24 left to play. Saint Olaf would not get closer than 10 points the rest of the game.
It was a rough night for the usually deadly perimeter game of the Gusties. Veterans Chris TeBrake (3-8), Eric Nelson (2-9), Tim Brown (2-11) and Doug Espenson (1-7) combined to shoot 8-for-35 from the field and 3-of-15 from three-point range.
Sophomore Adam TeBrake sparked the Gusties off the bench with a career-high 18 points including 6-of-9 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 shooting from the free throw line. The only other Gustavus player to score in double figures was Adam's brother Chris with 10 points.
Saint Olaf was led in scoring by Jon Bain with 12 points, Ted Gonsior contributed 11.