Butch McCartney

The 25th Annual Blugold Tip-Off Tournament ended in grand style with the Blugolds finishing on top, defeating the Rams from Cornell College (Iowa) 64-51 in the first game, then putting away the Oles from St. Olaf College (Minn.) 79-58 the following night.

Senior Jason Larson won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player honors after scoring 36 points in two games and posting 12 assists, which also earned him the Playmaker Award. Sophomore Dan Archambault and senior Andy Witte were also named to the All-Tournament Team.

“Personally, I am very proud of this team,” head coach Terry Gibbons said. “We played against the two toughest teams in the tournament. It was a good test for us.”

The tournament atmosphere was set the second the Blugolds charged onto the court, with the fans applauding their entrance and a group of super fans known as High Gravity sporting the “old school” Blugold look, wearing the older team jerseys and high cut shorts.

“We heard that the attendance was down and we wanted to fix that,” freshman Jordan Krause said. “By showing our support, we feel we can boost spirit among the fans.”

With the stage set, the ‘Golds and Rams squared off. The Rams took an early advantage against the ‘Golds shaky start, leading 10-6 after the first four minutes. Gibbons called a timeout to help his team regroup. They responded, going on a 15-4 run to lead 21-14 with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half.

In the next two minutes, however, the ‘Golds struggled and allowed Cornell to close the gap as they put up 6 points.

This quick strike was a blessing in disguise for the ‘Golds as they responded with 16 points to Cornell’s four to close off the half with a 37-24 lead.

“We needed to clean up our perimeter game and establish our inside game,” Gibbons said. “We also needed better execution on our cutting.”

The ‘Golds came out in the second half and put Cornell away for good, leading the entire way by 13 points or more. They out-rebounded the Rams 38 to 30 and had 17 assists compared to Cornell’s 6.

Archambault led the way by scoring 18 points, including 3 three-pointers. Larson put up 14 points and four assists and junior Ryan Wietor added 10 points off the bench.

“The first win is very important regardless of who you’re playing,” Larson said. “The worse part about it is waiting six weeks before the first game. You just want to hit the floor and get the first win.”

The ‘Golds marched onto the court the next night to the sound of the pep band as they faced St. Olaf in the championship game. They came out strong against the Oles, leading 21-14 after a 10-point scoring outburst by sophomore Nate Beck.

“I just kept getting the shots and hitting them,” he said.

Gibbons said Beck did a great job finding the seams in the Oles’ defense.

But St. Olaf wasn’t finished yet, and they made a run before the half concluded. They went into the locker room trailing 32-28.

“We started giving them second chances on offense,” Gibbons said. “They started to control the boards and that was the main key to winning this game.”

The Oles never got any closer the rest of the game as the ‘Golds reestablished themselves, pouring on the points and overwhelming St. Olaf with tough defense.

“It’s tough playing two games in row, but we wanted to come out here and win,” Archambault said. “It was a total team effort.”

Archambault scored all 16 of his points in the second half off of 50 percent shooting. Larson added 13 to finish the game with 22 points. Beck and Witte both finished with 11 points.

“I feel we handled (St. Olaf’s) physical game better in the second half,” Gibbons said. “Jason Larson played a tremendous floor game and (Andy) Witte helped us control the boards.”

Witte said that he wants to be the nuts and bolts guy on the team and help them any way he can.

“Stats don’t mean anything,” he said. “I’d rather help the team win.”

When the game clock expired, the Blugolds hoisted the Tip-Off trophy high above their heads, avenging last year’s loss in the final to Augsburg, Minn.

“This is just the start of a productive season,” Witte said.