Game Summary
WINONA, Minn. — Winning has not come easy for the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team.
In fact, through their first five games, winning had not come at all for the Cardinals.
Sunday, SMU broke through for its first win of the season — and, like the five previous games, it was anything but easy.
Brett Johnson (Onalaska, Wis.) hit the game-winning free throw with no time on the clock to lift the Cardinals to a 59-58 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Concordia Sunday afternoon at the SMU gym.
"That was a huge, huge win," understated SMU coach Bob Biebel, whose team moves to 1-2 in the MIAC and 1-5 overall with the win. "It's feels like the first time in three years we finally got a break down the stretch. Our guys played their hearts out — and for them to put together that kind of effort after what happened Saturday (an 87-65 loss at Gustavus) says something about what these guys are made of.
"Concordia came in unbeaten and in first place in the conference, and we went out and proved that when we play the way we are capable of playing, we can play with the best teams in the MIAC," continued Biebel. "I couldn't be happier for our players."
Concordia converted a pair of free throws to tie the game at 58 with six seconds remaining in regulation. SMU inbounded the ball to Johnson, who drove the length of the court and was fouled as he put up a shot that went in and out as time expired. Johnson the calmly nailed the first of the two free throws to end the game — and extract the monkey that had been camped on the Cardinals' back all season.
"We needed this win badly," said Biebel. "Even when things were going good, it was almost like our guys were waiting for something bad to happen. Like I said, it seems like for the last three years, every lucky bounce, every lucky basket has gone against us."
It wasn't luck that got SMU its first win of the season — it was radar-like precision from beyond the 3-point line, where the Cardinals nailed 13 of their 25 attempts.
"We lived and died by the three, no question about that," said Biebel, who got a game-high 18 points from Jason Dzick (Duluth, Minn.) and 14 and 13 points from Johnson and Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.), respectively. "We got killed from the free throw line (6-for-8, compared to Concordia's 19-for-30), we got killed on the boards (35-23) and we turned the ball over way too much (15 turnovers) — but we shot well from the 3-point line, and that proved to be the difference."
That, and the biggest free throw of the Cardinals' young season.
