Box Score  | GameDay Preview

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Heading into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at Macalester, Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.) had been the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's leading scorer in each of their last five games.

Saturday afternoon, Pat Freeman (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) gave his junior teammate a “day off,” as Freeman took center stage, equaling his career high with 23 points in leading the Cardinals to their first win of the season, a 62-47 win over the Scots.

After a slow start, in which Macalester netted 12 of the game's first 18 points to take a 12-6 advantage midway through the first half, the Cardinals began to find their groove, using a 9-2 run to take a 15-14 lead — a lead they would never relinquish.

Leading 32-23 at the break, the Cardinals built their lead to as many as 20 in the second half in cruising to the 15-point victory.

Freeman drained 7 of 12 field goals — including a pair of 3-pointers — and was 7-for-10 from the free throw line en route to his 23-point effort, while Burfeind chipped in 14 points and Tom Gores (Rochester, Minn.). As a team, the Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field (21-for-53) and knocked down 16 of 22 free throws.

Pierce Peters was the lone Scot in double figures, scoring 18 points.

The Cardinals (1-5 MIAC, 1-10 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, when they host Bethel in a 7:30 p.m. conference game at the SMU Gym.