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WINONA, Minn. To say it has been a rough couple of weeks for the Saint Mary's men's basketball team would be an understatement.

After beginning the season 8-1, SMU lost its next eight games. But on Saturday afternoon at SMU Gym, it was only fitting that the Cardinals got back in the win column utilizing two of the big reasons they got off to such a good start — Chris Palmer (Faribault, Minn.) and free throws.

After missing Wednesday's loss at Bethel with a knee injury, Palmer scored 31 points, and pulled down 11 rebounds in SMU's 76-63 victory over Macalester Saturday.

Yet, while 31 points and another double-doubleis certainly jaw-dropping, what was even more impressive about Palmer's performance was that he was an astounding 21 of 23 from the free throw line.

The Cardinals as a team were 35-for-43 from the charity stripe.

“I can honestly say I have never shot that many free throws in a game,” Palmer said. “But they were aggressive and physical defensively and we wanted to exploit that the best way we could.”

The loss snaps the losing streak, and improves SMU to 9-9 overall, and 4-9 in MIAC play — And you could almost see the weight being lifted off the Cardinals as the clock ran out.

“I told the guys I'm not happy, I'm not sad, I just finally get to exhale,” SMU coach Todd Landrum said. “I haven't exhaled in a long time.”

The win didn't come easy, however, as Macalester (1-11, 1-16) led 45-43 midway through the second half.

The Cardinals battled back to take the lead, and Lukas Holland (La Crosse, Wis.) converted a rare four-point play with just over seven minutes remaining that gave SMU the lead for good.

“We've been talking about just finding a way to get that first win, and then build off of that,” Holland said. “But when you look at the game tonight, this is the type of game we play.
“When we do the things we did tonight, we see the results that we want.”

Holland helped Palmer shoulder some of the scoring load as he added 18 points on 4 of 8 shooting, and was 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Will Wright (Chicago, Ill.) also chipped in 17 points of his own.

The Cardinals are right back in action on Monday, as they travel to Concordia for a 6:45 p.m. conference game against the Cobbers.