Drake University All-American made his cross country season debut with a third-place finish Friday evening at the Redbird Invite in Normal, Ill.
Basten finished the 8-kilometer course at the Weibring Golf Course in 24:33.8 to finish as the top Missouri Valley Conference runner in the race.
His performance helped the Drake men's team finish sixth in the 12-team field.
Basten was followed by (26), (28), (55) and (88). Illinois' Jonathan Davis won the men's race in 23:22.8.
Drake's women's team finished ninth out of 13 teams with three top-50 finishes in the 144-runner field.