Box Score  | GameDay Preview

MOORHEAD, Minn. — For the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team, Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against Concordia was a tale of two halves.

A good half, and a not-so-good half.

The Cardinals — coming off a 67-51 MIAC win over Macalester on Thursday — matched Concordia blow-for-blow over the game's opening 20 minutes, but the Cobbers delivered the knock-out punch with a 20-6 run to open the second half, as CC handed SMU a 68-47 conference setback at Memorial Auditorium.

The Cardinals found themselves playing catch-up for most of the first half. Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) drained a 3-pointer on his first field goal attempt to give SMU a very early 3-2 advantage, but the Cobbers used a 12-4 burst to take their biggest lead of the half, 23-14, with 4:25 remaining.

SMU would whittle CC's lead to two — capping a 9-2 run with a pair of free throws by Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) — only to have the Cobbers' Brady Syverson close out the half with his sixth field goal to give Concordia a slim, 27-23 advantage at the break.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the second half proved to be all Concordia.

Pederson drained a jumper to open the half — and pull SMU within two, 27-25, but the Cobbers would score 12 of the next 14 points to push their lead to 39-27 with 16:08 remaining.

Concordia would cap its 20-6 burst to open the half by scoring eight of the next 12 points for a 47-29 advantage, and the Cobbers would never look back.

Ferron finished with a team-high 17 points for the Cardinals, while Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in nine and Trent Vix (Rushford, Minn.) added seven. Ferron — whose effort fell one point short of his career-best 18-point showing against Bethel on Dec. 4 — hit 5 of 10 field goal attempts, including a pair of 3-pointers, while going 5-for-7 from the line.

As a team, the Cardinals show 39 percent from the field (16-for-41), but were just 11 of 20 from the free throw line and committed 14 turnovers.

Concordia, which had four players in double figures — led by Syverson, who equaled Ferron's game-high 17-point performance — finished 25-for-60 (41 percent) from the field, including a 6-for-14 showing from behind the 3-point line, and were 12 of 15 from the line.

The Cardinals (1-4 MIAC, 2-7 overall) are back in action on Monday, when SMU travels to Northfield, Minn., for a 7:30 p.m. conference game against Carleton.