Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — A year ago, it took Mike Trewick and the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team seven games to collect their first win of the season.

The Cardinals weren't about to wait that long again this year.

Led by Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) — who scored a game-high 17 points and led four SMU players in double figures, the Cardinals notched win No. 2 in game No. 2 Tuesday evening, routing Crown 86-72 at the SMU Gym.

"It's always nice to get that first win, and to get it on your home floor makes it that much sweeter," said Trewick, whose team had dropped their season-opener to Bethany Lutheran 80-74 on Nov. 18. "I thought we played well — Crown was a physical team and they took it to us early, but we responded and got the job done."

The Cardinals struggled out of the gate, but got things rolling midway through the first half and cruised to a 10-point, 38-28 advantage at the intermission. And it was more of the same in the second half, as SMU shot 62 percent from the field (18-for-29) over the game's final 20 minutes to outscore the Storm 48-44 and seal the victory.

Eric Lear (Antoich, Ill.), Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.) and Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.) all joined Batterman in the double-figure scoring department, netting 14, 11 and 10 points respectively, while Jon Zakariasen's 17 points led the way for the winless Storm (0-4 overall).

"Everyone's happy about the win, but the guys are also already looking ahead to (Wednesday night)," noted Trewick, whose team travels to cross-town rival Winona State for a nonconference game on Wednesday. "(The Winona State game) is one the guys always look forward to, and, hopefully, we can put together another effort like we got tonight."