DULUTH, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team entered Sunday's nonconference game against St. Scholastica having scored 80 or more points in each of its first two regular-season games this season.
 
And Sunday afternoon, there was another 80-plus point offensive performance.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, this time around it was the Saints who would eclipse that 80-point barrier, as St. Scholastica dealt Saint Mary's its first loss of the season, 85-68 at Reif Gym.
 
St. Scholastica scored the game's opening basket and never relinquished the lead, building its advantage to as many as 14 in the first half, before Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) drained a 3-pointer to cut the Saints' lead to 11, 44-33 at the break.
 
The Cardinals whittled the CSS lead down to nine four times early in the second half, but the Saints would use a 17-3 run to push their lead to 23, 65-42—and Saint Mary's could not answer.
 
Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) scored a team- and season-high 12 points on a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the field, while Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) chipped in 11 points and Swiggum—coming off his first double-double of the season against Martin Luther last Tuesday—added 10.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 41 percent from the field (27-for-65)—and knocked down seven 3-pointers—while going 7-for-11 from the free throw line.
 
St. Scholastica boasted five players in double figures, led by Brandon Newman with 18. Jake Naslund finished with 15, followed by Andrew Laughlin (11), Julius Johnson (11), and David Ohnstad (10).
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, traveling to St. Peter, Minn., for a 7 p.m. showdown with Gustavus.