Box Score  | Photo Gallery | Video Highlights | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team went point-for-point against the St. Olaf Oles in the second half of Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup at SMU Gym.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the first half was a different story, as the Oles built an 11-point, 35-24 halftime advantage, and then hold off a late Saint Mary's comeback to beat SMU 67-56.

“I was very pleased by the effort of our team today,” SMU coach Todd Landrum said. “We had great execution on offense, but couldn't finish the play.

“But I was really proud of how our guys played and how they executed.”

The Oles pushed their lead to as many as 17 points in the second half, but the Cardinals were not about to throw in the towel, using an 11-1 run to cut the gap to seven, 48-41 with 11 minutes remaining, then clawed to within four, 58-54, on a pair of Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) free throws with just over six minutes on the clock.

From there, however, the Oles took control, scoring nine of the game's final 11 points for the 11-point win.

Burfeind and LaMonte Hall (Minneapolis, Minn.) led the offense for the Cardinals with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Burfeind also recorded nine rebounds.

“The thing we try to tell the guys is that it's a 40-minute game,” Landrum said. “You can't get it all back in one play or one time with the ball.

“Our guys just kept plugging — we fought back right to the end.”

The Cardinals — who dropped to 0-2 in the MIAC and 0-6 overall — travel to Collegeville, Minn., on  Monday for a 7:30 p.m. conference showdown with Saint John's.