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WINONA, Minn. — Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) scored a team-high 15 points and Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) recorded his second double-double of the season, but it was not enough, as Bethany Lutheran used a 10-2 burst in the game's final 2:16 to hand the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team a 60-51 nonconference setback Wednesday at the SMU Gym.

Pederson knocked down 7 of 14 field goals, including a 3-pointer, en route to his team-best 15 points, while Swiggum chipped in 12 points and hauled in 14 rebounds — all on the defensive end.

For the third straight game, the Cardinals struggled to find their shooting touch early, as Bethany Lutheran knocked down its first four field goals — including back-to-back 3-pointers on their first two possessions — to race out to a 10-0 advantage in the game's opening three minutes.

Unlike the previous two games, however, the Cardinals came storming back, using a 9-2 run to pull within three 14-11. SMU continued to whittle away at the Vikings lead, pulling even, 21-21 on a jumper by Swiggum with 5:30 remaining in the opening half.

SMU would grab its first lead of the contest less than a minute later, as Pederson — who finished with a team-best eight first-half points — drilled a jumper from the corner. Bethany Lutheran scored the game' s next four points, but a pair of free throws by Swiggum knotted the game at 25-25 at the break.

The Cardinals took control early in the second half, scoring nine of the first 15 points to take their biggest lead of the game, 36-31. Bethany Lutheran battled back, grabbing a five-point lead of its own, 48-43, with 5:15 remaining in regulation.

Still trailing by five late, Pederson pulled the Cardinals within three, 54-51, with one minute on the clock, but the Vikings scored the final six points of the game — knocking down 6 of 8 free throws — to seal their first win of the season.

The Cardinals shot 38 percent from the field (21-for-56), but were just 2 of 20 from behind the 3-point line — going 1-for-11 in the first half and 1-for-9 in the second from behind the arc.

Bethany Lutheran, which got 19 points from Jacob Wensmann and 18 from Nick Sanborn, hit 20 of its 50 field goals (40 percent), including a 4-for-15 showing from the 3-point line, and were 16-for-23 from the line.

The Cardinals (1-7 overall) are now off until Jan. 2, when they return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play by hosting Macalester in a 7 p.m. contest at the SMU Gym.