Box Score  | Photo Gallery | GameDay Preview

WINONA, Minn. — Coming off a 79-48 win at Macalester on Monday, Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Jamison Rusthoven was hoping that momentum would carry over into Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Carleton.

Unfortunately for the first-year head coach, while SMU seemingly could not miss in cruising to the 31-point win over the Scots two days earlier, the Cardinals could not get anything to drop in the game's opening 20 minutes against the Knights.

Literally.

The Cardinals missed their first 11 field goal attempts, were just 1-for-17 from the the field with nine minutes remaining, found themselves trailing by 21 at the half.

The never-say-die Cardinals, however, were unfazed by the halftime deficit and clawed their way back, making it a five-point game with 4:30 remaining. But that would be where SMU's rally would stall, as Carleton slowly pulled away for a 62-51 victory at the SMU Gym.

Carleton scored the game's first nine points, before Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) — coming off a career-best 19-point effort against Macalester — got SMU on the board with a free throw five minutes into the first half.

The Knights would continue to take advantage of the Cardinals' frigid shooting from the field, holding a 26-14 advantage with 6:54 remaining, before ending the half the way it began — with a 9-0 run that gave Carleton its 21-point, 35-16 halftime advantage.

Trailing by 19, 45-26 midway through the second half, the Cardinals went to work — using a 12-2 run to cut the gap to nine, 47-38, and continuing whittling away at the Knights' lead, making it a five-point game on a basket by Ferron.

Carleton answered with back-to-back field goals to make it a nine-point game, and held the Cardinals at bay down the stretch to seal the win.

Evan Pederson (Onalaska, Wis.) scored a team-high 13 points, while Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in 11 points and six rebounds. Peter Bakker-Arkema, Shane McSparron and Taylor Hanson all had 12 points to pace Carleton (7-8 MIAC, 9-11 overall).

The Cardinals (2-14 MIAC, 3-18 overall) hit the road on Saturday, as SMU travels to St. Paul, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference game against league-leading St. Thomas at Schoenecker Arena.