Game Summary

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — It would have been a dream come true: Coach returns 'home," and not only beats his former team, but his team also snaps a 36-game road losing streak against them in the process.

instead, Mike Trewick's return to St. John's turned out to be nothing more than the Cardinals' recurring nightmare.

The Johnnies thwarted the Cardinals' late-game rally with a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining as SJU handed the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team a 59-56 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Monday evening.

To make matters worse, the loss not only extended SMU's current losing streak to four, but it also marked the 37th straight time that SMU has traveled to Collegeville, Minn., and been sent home with a loss.

"I honestly thought this was the one — this was going to be the game that got that monkey off our backs," said Trewick, who spent nine years as an assistant coach for the Johnnies before accepting the SMU position. "There's no question that this is a tough place to play — but I really felt like we were ready to put an end to the streak."

St. John's, fueled by a 15-for-29 performance from the field, jumped out to a 31-25 halftime advantage, and built a lead as big as 13, 42-29, with an 11-4 run to open the second half. The Johnnies led by 11, 51-40, midway through the half, before the Cardinals decided to make things interesting, scoring 16 of the next 22 points to cut the lead to one, 57-56, with 1:02 remaining.

SMU forced a turnover with 28 seconds left, but Jeff Tendall's (LeClaire, Iowa) jumper in the waning seconds missed its mark, and Paul Henrichs iced the Johnnies' win with a pair of free throws with 12 seconds remaining.

Dan Kloak (Elmwood Park, Ill.) scored 11 points to lead the Cardinals (3-13 MIAC 4-17 overall), while Craig Schafer netted a game-high 21 points for the Johnnies (5-11 MIAC, 7-14 overall).