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WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University and Macalester men's basketball teams first met on Dec. 4, Abe Woldeslassie nailed a layup with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation to lift the Scots to a 72-70 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.

Wednesday evening, the two teams tangled again — and again the outcome was not decided until the final seconds.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Scots didn't need a Woldeslassie last-second buzzer-beater this time around, as Kyle Hamblett nailed a pair of free throws with seven seconds remaining to ice Macalester's 68-65 victory.

"We had a chances," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose team dropped its eighth straight in falling to 1-12 in the MIAC and 1-17 overall. "This was a game in which we played well enough to win — we got the stops we needed down the stretch, we just weren't able to knock down our shots at the end."

Neither team was able to make much of a move through the opening 20 minutes, with the Cardinals' 30-25 advantage late in the second half the biggest lead either team would muster, as SMU settled for a 30-28 advantage heading into the locker room at the break.

It was more of the same in the second half, as Macalester finally pulled even, 41-41, with 13:24 remaining in regulation, and held a seven-point, 65-58, cushion on a Tom Conboy jumper with 30 seconds remaining. The two teams traded free throws, before Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) drained a 3-pointer to cut the Scots' lead to three, 66-63, before Hamblett swished his two free throws to ice the win.

Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) netted a team-best 21 points sfor the Cardinals, while Wright chipped in 17, extending his streak to 15 straight games in which the SMU freshman has scored 10 or more points. Conboy tossed in a game-high 26 points and added 14 rebounds — earning his seventh consecutive double-double, while also becoming Macalester's all-time leading scorer with 1,729 points.

"It's a tough loss to take," admitted Trewick. "But it was good to see this team battle from start to finish. We put ourselves in position (to get the win), we just came up a little short in the end."