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WINONA, Minn. — Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Augsburg — the final home game for the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team — started out so promising.

In fact, through the game's first 20 minutes, the Cardinals could do little wrong, as Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) and Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) combined to hit 11 of 19 field goal attempts and score 25 points in leading SMU to a 38-34 halftime advatnage.

Over the game's final 20 minutes, however, the Cardinals could do nothing right, as Augsburg held the SMU to a season-low 19 second-half points in turning that four-point halftime deficit into a 72-57 victory at the SMU Gym.

"The second half just got away from us," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose team dropped its second straight in falling to 2-17 in the MIAC and 2-22 overall. "Everything that we did well in the first half, we struggled with in the second.

"We shot the ball so well (in the first half), but we couldn't seem to buy a basket in the second half."

SMU, led by its freshmen tandem of Wright and Holland, shot 53 percent from the field in the first half, knocking down 17 of 32 field-goal attempts. Over the game's final 20 minutes, however, the Cardinals' hot hands turned ice cold, as SMU made just 8 of 28 attempts from the field — including an 0-for-9 effort from behind the 3-point line.

The Auggies scored 10 of the first 16 points to open the second half, pulling even at 44-44 with 15 minutes remaining. Jon Cassens drained a 3-pointer to give Augsburg a 47-44 advantage on their following possession — and the Auggies never looked back, leading by as many 17 points before settling for the 15-point victory.

Wright, who scored 12 points in the opening 20 minutes, was held to just six second-half points in settling for a team-best 18-point effort. Holland, boasting 13 points at the break, managed just one bucket in the second half to finish the night with 15 points, while Patrick Connolly (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in a career-best 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting.

"This was a disappointing loss, because we played so well in the first half and couldn't seem to match that in the second," said Trewick, whose team closes out its season on the road Saturday, traveling to Concordia for a 3 p.m. conference game. "We did a lot of good things tonight, (Augsburg) just made a run (in the second half) that we didn't have an answer for."