Game Summary vs. Gustavus / GameDay Online / Photo Gallery

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team gave Gustavus all it could handle for game's opening 20 minutes Wednesday evening.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the game's closing 20 minutes weren't quite so memorable.

The Gusties, who could not shake the pesky Cardinals in settling for a nine-point, 40-31 halftime advantage, finally shook loose early in the second half and never looked back in handing SMU an 81-62 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the SMU Gym.

Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) tossed in a game-high 24 points for the Cardinals, who lost their second straight conference game, after opening the MIAC season with a 67-65 victory over Macalester. Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) and Josh Knights (Plainfield, Wis.) — who was coming off a career-best 23-point effort in SMU's 77-60 loss at Bethel Saturday — each finished with 11 points for the Cardinals.

Sam Paulson tossed in 19 points and Jesse Van Sickle tallied 18 for the Gusties, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season in improving to 2-0 in the MIAC and 3-2 overall.

The Gusties appeared to have things under control in the first half, racing out to a pair of 13-point leads, the last a 29-16 advantage with 9:42 remaining. But the Cardinals clawed their way back, using an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to four, 31-27 with 5:39 on the clock. SMU's scoring touch, however, turned ice cold, as the Cardinals missed their next four field goal attempts and GAC closed the half on a 9-4 run to take the nine-point lead into the locker room at the break.

GAC scored 11 of the first 17 points top open the second half and built their lead to as many as 20 on a Paulson layup with 7:41 remaining, and the Cardinals never recovered.

SMU shot 43 percent from the field (24-for-56), but hit just 3 of 12 3-pointers, while the Gusties were 34-for-62 (55 percent) from the field, including a 6-for-18 effort from behind the arc.

The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday, when they play host to St. Thomas in another MIAC contest at the SMU Gym. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.