WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Sunday's season opener against the University of Dubuque, few outside of the Saint Mary's University men's basketball community knew much about freshman
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.).
After two games, however, SMU coach Todd Landrum's little-know freshman is no longer a secret.
Palmer, who tossed in 11 points in his collegiate debut against the Spartans in SMU's 73-62 season-opening victory, was at it again Wednesday evening, pouring in a game-high 20 points against UW-La Crosse.
Unfortunately for Landrum, Palmer's heroics were not quite enough, as the Eagles, knocked down four straight free throws in the game's final 13 seconds to seal UW-L's hard-fought, 77-69 nonconference victory at the SMU Gym.
“That's a very good team over there,” said Landrum of the Eagles, who already had an exhibition win over NCAA Division II power Winona State under their belts heading into Wednesday's showdown. “And I thought we played right with them. A shot here or there, and the end result certainly could have been a little different.
“It certainly wasn't an eight-point game.”
Not by a long shot.
The Cardinals, who trailed by 11, 45-34 at the half — thanks in part to a half-ending 25-14 UW-L run that broke open a 20-20 game — trailed by as many as 15 in the second half, before using a 15-4 run to cut the gap to four, 71-67, on a pair of free throws by
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) with 48 seconds remaining in regulation.
UW-L's Jordan Rumpel pushed the lead back to six with a tip-in basket on the Eagles' next possession, but again SMU responded, as
Pat Freeman (Champlin Park, Minn.) knocked down a jumper with less than 20 seconds on the clock.
Forced to foul, the Cardinals would get no closer, as Austin Scott and Jeff Heiden each hit a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to ice the win.
“I told guys before the game that you should look forward to facing teams like (UW-L) — good teams from one of the best leagues in Division III,” said Landrum, whose team hits the road on Saturday, traveling to Decorah, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference contest against Luther. “I thought we did a lot of good things tonight — we didn't turn the ball over, some of our younger players had outstanding nights.
“Over those last 10 minutes, I think we had them thinking a bit.”
Along with Palmer's game-high 20 points, the Cardinals (1-1 overall), also got 18 points from Wright and nine from
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.), while the Eagles (2-0 overall) were led by Trevor Stratton, who led four UW-L players in double figures with 17 points.
“We've got a great group of young men, and I told them that if (the loss) hurts tonight, we've got the right kind of team,” Landrum said. “We're going to learn from this game and continue to work to improve every day.”
