Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Mike Trewick has been preaching a simple philosophy this season: "It's not the name on the back of the jersey, but the SMU on the front that matters."

And so far, the Cardinals have taken it to heart.

For the third time in three games, the Cardinals had a different player put together a season-high offensive performance.

And for the second straight night, that performance has led the Cardinals to a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) followed the lead of Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.) — who netted a career-best 22 points in leading SMU to an MIAC-opening 61-56 win over Augsburg last Saturday – by scoring a game- and season-high 22 points in guiding the Cardinals to a 69-64 win over Macalester Monday evening at the SMU Gym.

"Every night it's been someone else stepping up big for us — and tonight was no different," said Trewick, whose team is now 2-0 in MIAC play for the first time in more than 20 years. "(Saturday) it was Brensley who knocked down some big shots for us, and tonight, Michael stepped up and gave our offense a boost."

But Batterman didn't do it alone.

Freshman Mike Sweeney (St. Paul, Minn.) made his presence known in the second half, nailing a pair of 3-pointers — the first midway through the half to give SMU a 10-point, 50-40 lead, and the second less than a minute later that pushed the Cardinals' lead to 11, 56-45.

The Scots battled back, cutting the lead to three, 64-61 on a basket by Brendan Bosman, but SMU netted five of the game's final eight points to seal the win.

"Any win in this league is big, but more importantly, you have to protect your home floor — and that's what we did," said Trewick, whose team is now a perfect 2-0 at home. "It's a long season, but to get two (conference) wins under our belts this early is nice."