ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. — A year ago, the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team had to work a little overtime to knock off Crown 86-81—giving coach Jamison Rusthoven his first win at the helm for the Cardinals.
 
Monday evening, the two teams squared off again—only this time, Saint Mary's made sure there would be no need for the Cardinals to clock in for any overtime.
 
The Cardinals erupted for a season-high 46 first-half points and never looked back in cruising to an impressive 81-64 nonconference win over the Storm at the Wild Athletic Center.
 
Saint Mary's took control from the opening tip, scoring 13 of the game's first 17 points, then using back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to push their lead to 22-6 before the first half was even 10 minutes old.
 
The Cardinals' lead ballooned to 16 points twice, 28-12 and 29-13, only to have Crown go on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to eight, 29-21, with five minutes remaining.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Storm would get, as Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) scored eight of the Cardinals' final 17 points of the half to give Saint Mary's a commanding 16 point, 46-30, advantage at the break.
 
The Cardinals' offense continued to carry the hot hand in the second half, building their lead to as many as 19 twice—the first at 58-39 on a Ronnie Ortiz (Dayton, Ohio) 3-pointer and the second at 60-41 on a basket by Swiggum.
 
Crown made one late run to make it a 12-point game, 73-61, but the Cardinals scored eight of the game's final 11 points to seal the victory.
 
Swiggum finished with a game- and season-high 23 points—one points shy of his career-best 24-point effort against Augsburg on Jan. 19, 2013— for the Cardinals, who had five players score in double figures en route to their season-high 81-point performance.
 
Along with Swiggum's 23-point effort—the third time this season the Cardinals have had a player score more than 20 points in a game—Saint Mary's also got 17 points from Ortiz, 12 each from Ferron and Bakari Collins (Kenosha, Wis.), and 10 from Ferron. Ferron missed his second career double-double by one assist, finishing with a career-best nine helpers.
 
The Cardinals (2-6 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, as Saint Mary's hosts St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Gym.