Box Score  | GameDay Preview

PARKLAND, Wash. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team gave Puget Sound all it could handle through the first 20 minutes of their nonconference game at the Pacific Lutheran Thanksgiving Classic Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately for SMU, an 11-3 Loggers' run to open the second half put the Cardinals in a hole they could not dig out of, as Puget Sound dealt Saint Mary's an 80-57 setback.

The Cardinals started out sizzling, scoring the game's first five points on a Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis.) 3-pointer and a bucket by Ben Meyer, but the Loggers answered with six straight points of their own to take a 6-5 lead.

Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) put SMU up 7-6, but that would be the last time the Cardinals would play with the lead, as Puget Sound posted its second straight 6-0 run for a 12-7 lead and pushed that advantage to seven, 39-32 at the break.

The Loggers used yet another big run — this one a half-opening 11-3 run — to take a 50-35 advantage and SMU never recovered.

Puget Sound would push its advantage to 20 on three separate occasions and led by as many as 24 before settling for the 80-57 victory.

Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) nearly duplicated his feat of Friday evening against Pacific Lutheran, as the sophomore — coming off his first double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Lutes — finished with 15 points and nine boards against the Loggers.

Nick Holden netted a game-high 16 points, with Rex Nelson and Keith Shattuck adding 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Loggers.

The Cardinals (1-3 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, hosting Bethel in a 7:30 p.m. contest at the SMU Gym.