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WINONA, Minn. — Heading into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Macalester, Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Todd Landrum owned an unblemished 7-0 record against the Scots.

Exiting the SMU Gym, Landrum was still perfect against Macalester — thanks to the play of Pat Freeman (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) and Michael Burfeind (Lewiston, Minn.), as the two combined for 37 of the Cardinals' 54 points in their 54-41 win over the Scots.

SMU got out of the gates quickly, scoring 11 of the game's first 15 points for an 11-5 lead five minutes into the first period. The Scots, however, answered back, pulling even, 16-16, on a free throw by Pierce that completed a three-point play with 7:28 left on the clock.

From there, it was all Cardinals, as SMU closed out the half on a 12-4 run to take a 28-20 advantage into the locker room at the break.

Burfeind and Freeman proved to be a perfect 1-2 combination in the first half, scoring 19 of the team's 28 points. Burfeind led all scorers with 10 points in the first half, with Freeman close behind with nine.

And it was more of the same in the second half.

Freeman seemed to be just heating up when the first half ended, and the 15-minute layoff didn't cool off his shooting hand, as the senior drained 10 second-half points to finish with a game-high 19, while Burfeind was close behind with 18 points and six rebounds.

The Cardinals — who never trailed in the game — pushed their eight-point halftime lead to as many as 21 points, 48-27 to cap a 20-7 run to open the second half, and cruised to their eight straight win over the Scots.

Sam Marshall scored 17 points and Pierce Peters added a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in the losing effort for Macalester.

The Cardinals (5-10 MIAC, 5-15 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, hosting Gustavus in a 7:30 p.m. MIAC game at the SMU Gym.