Game Summary

WINONA, Minn. — Mike Trewick has been saying all along that his Saint Mary's University men's basketball team had the potential to be very good.

How good?

As good as the best team in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

In fact, Monday evening, the Cardinals were better than the MIAC's best, as SMU handed league-leading Saint John's its first conference loss of the season, holding on for a 66-63 win at the SMU Gym.

"I'm very pleased with the way we played — it's the first time since the break that this team executed exactly the way we wanted them to," said SMU coach Mike Trewick. "Defensively, we did a great job — our perimeter guys were outstanding. Whenever (SJU) had the ball, they had a hand in their face, and we made it very difficult for them to get any open looks.

"This was a nice win, no question about that."

It may have been nice, but it wasn't easy.

The Cardinals jumped out to a seven-point, 36-29 halftime advantage — thanks in part to a 6-for-11 performance from behind the 3-point line and a half-ending 16-10 run — but the Johnnies opened the second half with a 15-8 run of their own to knot the game at 44-44.

Then things got really interesting.

The score would be tied four more times — the last on a 3-pointer by SJU's Ryan Lieser to knot the game up at 61-61 — before SMU got back-to-back baskets in the paint from Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) to give the Cardinals a 65-61 advantage with 2:22 remaining.

After the Cardinals missed a pair of free throws that would have pushed the lead to six — snapping SMU's perfect 14-for-14 night from the free throw line — the Johnnies' Tyler Westman made it a two-point game, 65-63, with a pair of free throws with 1:19 remaining.

SMU failed to convert on its next possession, and then dodged the biggest bullet of the night, as SJU missed on four consecutive field goal attempts in the game's final minute, before the Cardinals' John Gencius (Chicago, Ill.) iced the win with one of two free throws with three seconds remaining.

"This team is still learning how to play together, and tonight was another one of those lessons," Trewick said. "When we play as a team, we are as good as any team in the conference."