Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — For 20 minutes, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team stood toe-to-toe with the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The Cardinals matched the Blugolds nearly shot-for-shot in the opening half of Saturday's nonconference game at the SMU gym — the Blugold knocked down 10 field goals, while the Cardinals settled for nine.

And when the halftime buzzer sounded, the Cardinals were trailing by a meager one point, 28-27.

Unfortunately, there are two halves in the game of basketball — and what a second half the Blugolds had.

UW-Eau Claire erupted for 50 second-half points — matching the Cardinals' offensive output for the entire game — as the Blugolds cruised to a 78-50 nonconference victory.

Dan Archambault netted a game-high 14 points in leading four UW-Eau Claire players in double figures. Ryan Wietor finished with 12 points, while Nate Beck and Andy Witte each chipped in 10 for the Blugolds, who snapped a season-high four-game losing streak with the win.

Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) was the only Cardinal to hit in double figures, scoring 10 points, as SMU dropped its fifth straight and 10th in its last 11 games.

The Cardinals (2-12 overall) shot just 28 percent from the field in the second half (7-for-25), and were just 6 of 12 from the free-throw line, while UW-Eau Claire sizzled from the floor (17-for-28, 61 percent) and the foul line (10--for-16) in cruising to its 11th win in 16 games.