WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team got a bit defensive against Gustavus in the first half of Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game—holding the Gusties to just 32 first-half points.
 
Unfortunately, the Gusties turned the tables in the second half, limiting the Cardinals to just 23 points over the game's final 20 minutes in handing Saint Mary's a 67-47 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) scored a team-high 16 points for the Cardinals, hitting 6 of 11 field goals, while going 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Ronnie Ortiz (Dayton, Ohio) tallied eight points and Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) chipped in a season-high nine rebounds for Saint Mary's.
 
Gustavus tossed in the game's first bucket and never relinquished the lead, building its advantage to as many as eight on four separate occasions, the final 32-24 at the halftime break.
 
The Gusties opened the second half on a 14-1 run—part of a 26-5 burst that turned GAC's eight-point lead into a 29-point, 58-29 advantage, and the Cardinals could not recover.
 
Saint Mary's shot 33 percent from the field (16-for-49), knocked down 4 of 16 3-pointers and was 11-for-17 from the free throw line. Gustavus, meanwhile, hit on 41 percent of its field goals (28 of 63), drained 2 of 8 3-points and added a 9-for-14 effort from the charity stripe.
 
Sergio Najera and Pete Kruize each scored in double figures for the Gusties (4-2 MIAC, 8-3 overall)—Najera netted 15 points, while Kruize chipped in a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
 
 The Cardinals (1-6 MIAC, 2-8 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Collegeville, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference game against Saint John's.