The Gustavus men's basketball team kicked off the D3hoops.com Classic with a 71-69 win over Hardin-Simmons University on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. In what was a back-and-forth affair from start to finish, a pair of Ben Biewen free throws with 20 seconds left turned out to be the difference, as Gustavus handed the Cowboys their first loss of the season. The Gusties improve to 5-3 overall with the victory, while Hardin-Simmons drops to 8-1 with the loss.
Seth Anderson (#4) and Ben Biewen (#43) attempt to bring down a rebound on Wednesday night in Fabulous Las Vegas.
Leading scorers in the game included Seth Anderson and Cowboy Matt Addison. Anderson scored a team-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Addison scored a game-high 32 points after going 12-of-24 from the field. Ten of Anderson's 22 came at the free throw line, as Addison went 5-for-8 from three-point range.
Addison scored the Cowboys' first 12 points of the game, and after a John Derr three-pointer with 14:02 left in the first half, Hardin-Simmons led 15-6. Hardin-Simmons led by as many as eight points (29-21) with 7:12 remaining in the opening half following an Addison three. Gustavus would then make a 10-2 run to tie the game at 31-31 after Tyler Grey hit a three-pointer with 2:34 left in the frame.
Seth Anderson converted a three-point-play with a three throw with :06 seconds on the clock to give the Gusties a 37-35 lead at the break.
Gustavus shot 46.4-percent in the first half, while the Cowboys shot 50-percent. Both Anderson and Blake Shay led the Gusties with 11 points in the first half. Shay went 5-for-6 from the field and brought down six rebounds, and Addison scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
With 16:05 left in the second half, a layup by Bobby Johnson sparked a 9-2 run that gave Gustavus a 48-41 lead with 13:59, the Gusties' largest of the game.
Blake Shay scored a career-high 15 points in the contest.
With the score tied 55-55, a three-pointer by Addison at 7:26 gave the Cowboys their first lead of the second half at 58-55. With less than two minutes remaining, a put-back by Andy Spears gave Hardin-Simmons a 69-63 (1:57) lead and it looked as if the Cowboys were in control.
In a matter of a minute following the Spears bucket, Gustavus would score six unanswered points to tie the game at 69-69 with :57 seconds left to play. A pair of jumpers by Anderson and two free tosses by Biewen knotted the contest. A miss by Addison on the ensuing possession led to Biewen's game-winning three throws and the eventual non-conference victory for the Gusties.
Addison scored 15 points in the second half, while Seth Anderson scored 11. Anderson was 3-for-4 from the field and 5-for-6 at the stripe in the second half.
The Gusties finished 21-of-48 (43.8%) from the field, 3-of-15 (20.0%) from three-point range, and 26-of-34 (76.5%) at the line. Blake Shay and Jim Hill joined Anderson in double-figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Hill went a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Shay's 15 points are a career-high for the junior.
Derrick Jefferson was the only other Cowboy to join Addison in double-digits, scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Hardin Simmons shot 45.6-percent (26-57) from the field, 47.1-percent (8-17) from beyond the arc, and 52.9-percent (9-17) at the line.
The Gusties will look to finish the 2011 calendar year on a high note tomorrow night with a late game against Transylvania University at 11:00 p.m. (CST).