CHICAGO, Ill. — After the first 31 minutes of the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team's nonconference game against North Park, it appeared like the game was going to go right down to the wire.
After all, in those opening momentum-swinging 31 minutes, the game was tied nine times and the lead changed hands on 11 different occasions.
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the final momentum swing went the Vikings' way, as North Park used a 17-0 run over a five-minute span midway through the second half to pull away in handing Saint Mary's an 88-75 setback.
The Cardinals came out firing in the first half, shooting an impressive 62 percent from the field (15-for-24)—including a 5-for-7 effort from 3-point range—but could not shake the pesky Vikings.
Saint Mary's scored the game's first four points, led by as many as seven—34-27—with 5:47 remaining in the opening half, but an 18-9 North Park run over those final five minutes gave the Vikings a two-point, 45-43 advantage heading into the locker room at the break.
The halftime intermission didn't cool off the Vikings, either, as North Park scored the first six points of the second half to push their lead to eight, 51-43.
A pair of
Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) free throws, 3-pointers by
Ronnie Ortiz (Dayton, Ohio) and
Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis.), and a
Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) jumper pulled the Cardinals even, 53-53, with 15:17 remaining in regulation.
And the Cardinals were just heating up.
Collins and Ortiz each drained their second 3-pointers of the second half to give Saint Mary's leads of 58-55 and 61-58, respectively.
A pair of Swiggum free throws at 9:35 pushed Saint Mary's lead to three, 65-62—but Juwan Henry drained a 3-pointer on the Vikings' next possession to knot the game for the 11th and final time, 65-65.
Henry's 3-pointer kicked off a five-minute span in which North Park outscored the Cardinals 17-0, turning that 65-65 deadlock into a 12-point, 79-65, Viking advantage.
The Cardinals cut the gap to nine, 81-72, on an Ortiz 3-pointer, but that was as close as Saint Mary's would get, as North Park scored seven of the game's final 10 points to seal the win.
Ortiz finished with a team- and career-high 21 points—including a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc—to pace the Cardinals, who shot 46 percent from the field (23-for-50) and were 10 of 23 from the 3-point line. Swiggum chipped in 14 points, while Collins added 11.
Henry led the way for North Park (8-2 overall), scoring a game-high 27 points, four better than teammate Colin Lake.
The Cardinals (1-5 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, traveling to Moorhead, Minn., for a 3 p.m. contest against Concordia.
