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WINONA, Minn. — Bethel did everything it could to run away from the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team during Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-opener.

The Royals — behind a trio of 7-0 runs and a 6-0 run in the game's opening 20 minutes — built leads as big as 16 points against the Cardinals.

And every time it appeared like the Royals would be able shift into cruise control, the Cardinals would reappear in their rear view mirror.

Almost every time.

After the Cardinals clawed back from a 16-point deficit just before half to make it a one-point game midway through the second stanza, Bethel used one final run — a 13-4 burst — to put the game out of reach, as the Royals dealt SMU a 69-58 setback at the SMU Gym.

The two teams traded baskets to open the game, but the Royals put together its first two big runs of the game to push their lead to 18-7. The Cardinals would cut the gap to eight, 22-13 with just over eight minutes left until halftime, only to have BU respond with 7-0 run No. 3 to make it a 29-14 Royal advantage.

Six straight points by SMU got the lead down to 10, 29-19, but the Royals closed the half scoring eight of the final 12 points — including six unanswered — to take a 37-23 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The Cardinals took a page out of the Royals' playbook in the second half, capping a 22-12 half-opening outburst with an 8-0 run to chop the Bethel lead down to one, 49-48, with nine minutes remaining in regulation.

That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as Bethel regrouped and pulled away one last time in sealing the victory.

Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) netted a team- and career-high 18 points for the Cardinals, while Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis.) added 14 and Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) tallied nine points and added 11 rebounds.

Brycen Wojta led a trio of Royals in double figures, scoring 15 points, with Kyle Zimmerman chipping in a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Kyle von Schmidt-Pau tallying 12 points.

SMU shot 39 percent from the field (22-for-56), but were just 3 of 13 from behind the 3-point line. Bethel, meanwhile, knocked down 28 of 55 field-goal attempts (50 percent) and was 7-for-23 from behind the arc.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday, traveling to Collegeville, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference matchup with Saint John's.