Gustavus Men’s Head Basketball Coach Mark Hanson coached the Gusties to the MIAC Playoff Championship game

Gustavus Men’s Head Basketball Coach Mark Hanson led the Gustavus Men’s Basketball team to a somewhat unexpected second place finish in the MIAC, along with a berth in the MIAC Playoff Championship game. The Gusties concluded their season with a tough loss in overtime in the MIAC Championship to Carleton.

Despite three seniors in the starting lineup (Sam Paulson, Jesse Van Sickle and Ryan McPartland), the Gusties had to rely on their young and relatively inexperienced bench. Junior guards Dan Schmidtknecht and Phil Wirtjes rounded out the starting five, but the bench consisted predominantly of sophomores and first-years. Sophomores Tyler Grey, Seth Anderson and Paul Blacklock played prominent roles off the bench. Anderson and Grey were fifth and sixth in scoring average on the team with 6.8 and 6.3 points per game, respectively. Hanson also incorporated first-years Ben Biewen and Jim Hill into the rotation as they both received valuable minutes off the bench. All theses players will figure to play important roles for the Gusties next season.

The Gusties’ second place finish was a big improvement from an 11-9 record in the MIAC and sixth place finish in the conference last season. Hanson will look to lead the Gusties to another strong season next year, and with a young, yet slightly more experienced team, the Gusties will have higher expectations.

Honorable Mention: Tommy Valentini-Men’s Tennis