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WINONA, Minn. — Prior to Saturday's showdown with Augsburg at the SMU Gym, Saint Mary's University assistant men's basketball coach Kevin Landrum made a simple prediction: “When it comes to SMU and Augsburg, you might as well throw the records out, because every time we play, it's a battle from start to finish — a battle that almost always goes right down to the wire.”

How right he was.

In a game that saw 13 lead changes and neither team owning a lead of bigger than five points, Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest lived up to Landrum's pre-game billing — going right down to the wire.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, despite boasting four players in double figures, it was the Auggies who came out on top, as Augsburg knocked down four free throws over the final 44 seconds to escape the SMU Gym with a 65-61 win over the Cardinals.

Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) scored a team-high 15 points for the Cardinals, who also got 14 points from Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.), 12 from Pat Freeman (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and 10 from Tom Gores (Rochester, Minn.).

Pederson fueled the Cardinals' offense in the opening half, scoring 12 of his 14 points — including a jumper at the halftime buzzer to give SMU a 28-27 halftime advantage.

In  the second half, it was Freeman and Gores who took the offensive controls, as Gores knocked down a 3-pointer and followed up with another field goal in back-to-back possessions to give SMU a 50-49 advantage midway through the half.

Freeman, who found himself in foul trouble early in the first half, made his presence felt in the second, following up Gores' 5-0 burst with a run of nine consecutive points of his own — including a three-point play with 3:11 remaining that tied the game at 59-59.

Burfeind drained a pair of free throws to give the Cardinals a 61-59 advantage with 2:28 remaining in regulation, but the Auggies responded with six unanswered points to seal the win.

Andy Grzesiak-Grimm tossed in 21 points and added 10 boards for the Auggies, who improved to 6-2 in the conference and 9-4 overall.

The Cardinals (2-6 MIAC, 2-11 overall), who had their two-game winning streak snapped with the four-point loss, are back in action on Monday, traveling to Hamline for a 7:30 p.m. conference game against the Pipers.