WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team gave Winona State all it could handle Monday evening.
And, as hard as the Warriors tried, they couldn't shake their pesky, cross-town foe.
Unfortunately for SMU, as hard as the Cardinals tried to keep pace with their NCAA Division II rival, they couldn't quite keep up, as Winona State used a 17-4 run early in the second half to pull away en route to an 83-70 nonconference victory at McCown Gym.
The Cardinals had the upper hand early in the first half, scoring 11 of the game's first 13 points to take an 11-2 advantage five minutes into the opening half. A 14-4 WSU run gave Winona State its first lead of the game, 16-15 — a lead the Warriors would build to as many as seven, 28-21, before settling for a four-point, 40-36 advantage at the break.
It was more of the same to open the second half, as the teams a pair of baskets, before the Warriors went on an 11-2 run to make it 55-44, then completed its game-changing 17-4 run by scoring six of the next eight baskets to take their biggest lead of the game, 61-44 with 11:14 remaining in regulation.
Down, but far from out, SMU cut the gap to seven, 69-62 with 4:43 to go, but the Warriors kept the Cardinals at arm's length down the stretch — outscoring Saint Mary's 14-8 over that final 4:43 to secure the win.
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) scored a team-best 20 points for the Cardinals, knocking down 8 of 16 field goals, while also going 4-for-5 from the free throw line.
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) chipped in 16 points for SMU (4-4 overall), while
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) finished with 12 points.
David Johnson netted a game-high 22 points for the Warriors, who also got double-figure scoring from Brad Meyer (16 points), C.J. Erickson (14) and Ben Fischer (10).
Monday's game was the final nonconference contest of the season for the Cardinals, who return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, playing host to Saint John's in a 3 p.m. contest at the SMU Gym.
