Gustavus students, faculty and alumni followed Gustavus men’s basketball to the University of Wisconsin River-Falls on March 2. It was an ocean of fans dressed in jean shorts, Hawaiian shirts, super-hero outfits and even a little black and gold. This group of Gusties shared one mentality with the team: the drive to win.

The Karges Center at UW-River Falls has a capacity of 1800 and the stands were dominated by upwards of 1000 Gustavus fans who lined the arena ready to go thirty minutes prior to game time.

The matchup was the team’s first game in the Division III national tournament in seven years.  Amounting a 20-7 record, the men’s team season halted with a devastating loss against the University of St. Thomas in the MIAC Playoff Championship a week before. Following the St. Thomas game, the team-wide sentiment was that the squad had played their last game of the 2012 season.

The Division III national tournament selection committee ruled otherwise. Wins on the team’s trip to Las Vegas against nationally ranked teams Hardin-Simmons University and Transylvania University deemed the men’s team to be a national contender, receiving a number nine seed in the Virginia Wesleyan Bracket.

The Gusties were poised for a matchup against the Thunder of Wheaton College. Wheaton, located in Illionis, entered the tournament with a 22-5 record and represented the College Conference of Illionis and Wisconsin (CCIW) with an at-large bid into the national tournament.

Wheaton had the CCIW’s “Most Outstanding Player”, Senior Tim McCrary, who finished the conference season ranked in the top five in five different categories: rebounding (first); scoring, steals and blocks (second); and assists (fifth).

In the game, McCrary was stifled by Gustie center Paul Blacklock, a senior, who held McCrary to 11 points. Thunder scoring surged thanks to Wheaton’s Spencer Schultze, who scored a team-high twenty points on 8-of-16 shooting and Thunder guard Jeremy Pflederer, who added 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

The Gusties’ leader and MIAC Player-of-the-Year, Senior Seth Anderson, matched the energy brought by the Thunder. Anderson led the way with 22 points on a 10-of-22 shooting performance.

While Anderson often headlines the box score, 15 other players present a unit to support him. Anderson is one cog of a Gustavus machine. Coach Mark Hanson has been the mechanic of this machine for 22 years and this year won MIAC Coach-of-the-Year for the eighth time in his career.

Junior forward Jim Hill has brought energy for the Gusties all season and was rightfully awarded the MIAC Sixth-Man-of-the-Year award. In Friday’s matchup nothing changed; Hill brought interior physicality as he amounted a double-double scoring 13 points and a game-high ten rebounds.

While the Gusties’ overall effort fell short, dropping the game 68-60, the season has been nothing but invigorating to follow. The fan following is a reverence to the Gustie style of play and the type of people the Gustie players are. Within 24 hours of the Gusties qualifying for the national tournament, four coach buses were filled with students eager to take the two hour bus ride to continue following their peers.

The loss to Wheaton was a bitter end to an exciting season and an unforgettable national tournament experience.  Senior student-athletes Ryan Nett (All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team), Ty Moore, Reed Sallstrom, Adam Michel, Paul Blacklock (All-MIAC Defensive Team and All-Conference Honorable Mention), Tyler Grey (All-Conference), Bobby Johnson and Seth Anderson (MIAC Player-of-the-year) led the way for Gustavus this season and contributed to a year to remember for Gustie Nation.