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WINONA, Minn. — They had to put in a little extra work, but the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team gave coach Jamison Rusthoven his first win at the helm, as the Cardinals outlasted Crown 86-81 in overtime Saturday evening at the SMU Gym.

SMU, which lost its opener to Viterbo last Wednesday, appeared to have win No. 1 all locked up midway through the second half, holding a nine-point advantage, 71-62 with 2:47 remaining in regulation, but the Storm had other ideas, using a half-ending 13-4 run to force the extra session.

Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) kicked off the OT by draining a long 3-pointer — and the Cardinals never looked back, outscoring Crown 11-6 in the five-minute extra session to seal their first win of the season.

The Cardinals gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about early, scoring the game's first seven points and holding an 18-10 advantage, before Crown came storming back, taking its first lead of the game, 21-20, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the opening half.

Neither team would lead by more than four over those final 10 minutes, with SMU grabbing the 33-32 halftime advantage on a 3-pointer by Trent Vix (Rushford, Minn.) with 53 seconds remaining.

Vix drained another 3-pointer to open the second half, but the Storm used an 8-0 run to snatch a 40-36 advantage three minutes in. A 9-0 run of their own — capped by a Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) 3-pointer and an Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) field goal — gave the Cardinals a five-point, 45-40 advantage.

SMU would hold the lead until the Storm's Truman Shelter drained one of two free throws with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the game at 75-75 — and set up the Cardinals' overtime heroics.

The Cardinals boasted five players in double figures, led by Swiggum with a game-high 18 points. Ferron chipped in 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double, while Romportl dropped in 13 points and Vix and Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis.) each added 11. Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) also chipped in a career-high nine assists

SMU shot 40 percent from the field (27-for-67) — and knocked down eight 3-pointers — and was 24-for-30 from the free throw line. Crown finished 30-for-61 from the field (49 percent), but the Storm were just 8 of 19 from behind the arc and hit 13 of 20 free throws.

Bryce Williams tallied 18 points to lead five players in double figures for Crown, which fell to 0-5 on the season.

SMU (1-1 overall) is back in action next Friday and Saturday, as the Cardinals take part in the Pacific Lutheran Thanksgiving Classic in Tacoma, Wash. SMU will face host Pacific Lutheran at 10 p.m. (CST) on Friday, before squaring off against Puget Sound at 2 p.m. (CST) on Saturday.