WINONA, Minn. — The first 20 minutes of Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown between the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team and St. Olaf turned into a half of runs at the SMU Gym.
The Cardinals would race out to a sizable advantage — and the Oles would answer.
And so the first half went.
Then came the second half — and only one team was doing the running, as the Cardinals used a 15-3 burst to break open a 41-41 deadlock and never looked back in cruising to a 77-64 conference victory.
“Part of learning to win is learning to play from in front,” said SMU coach Todd Landrum, whose team improved to 7-12 in the MIAC and 9-15 overall. “Tonight, we let (St. Olaf) hang around in the first half, but in the second we came out and took control and never really let them back in the game.”
Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) certainly had a hand in that, as the SMU junior made his first 10 field goals — including all three first-half 3-pointers — en route to a career high 32 points.
Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 17 points, while
Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Trailing 20-17 with eight minutes remaining in the first half, the Cardinals went on a 16-4 run to take a 33-24 advantage, only to have St. Olaf respond with a 9-2 run of its own to cut the gap to two, 35-33, at the break.
The Oles would pull even twice in the opening minutes of the second half — 35-35 and 41-41 — but the Cardinals would never relinquish the lead, outscoring St. Olaf 42-31 over the game's final 20 minutes to seal the win.
“We got contributions for a lot of guys, and that's always a huge plus,” said Landrum. “Add to that the fact that we got the stops when we needed them and took care of the ball, it was a solid overall performance from everyone.”
The Cardinals return to action on Friday, when they close out their season with a 7:45 p.m. conference road game at Augsburg.
