WINONA, Minn. — It took a while for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team to find its shooting touch Wednesday evening—but once they did, the Cardinals were unstoppable.
 
Trailing by as many as 14 early in the second half, the Cardinals knocked down seven 3-pointers in erasing that 14-point deficit and handing Augsburg a 68-65 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals struggled to get into an offensive rhythm in the game's opening 20 minutes, trailing by as many as 17—and were left staring at a 13-point, 36-23 deficit at the break.
 
Augsburg continued to have the upper hand early in the second half, boasting a 45-31 cushion with 15 minutes to play.
 
And what a 15 minutes it proved to be.
 
The Cardinals drained five 3-pointers—and got a Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) three-point play—to make it a one-point game, 50-49 with just over 11 minutes remaining.
 
And the Cardinals were just getting warmed up.
 
Augsburg rebuilt its lead to five, 54-51, but the Cardinals would not be denied, getting yet another 3-pointer from Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) to give Saint Mary's a 56-55 lead—their first since Kaiser's first 3-pointer of the game gave the Cardinals a 3-2 advantage.
 
The Auggies answered with a quick, 3-0 run for a 59-56 lead with less than six minutes on the clock, but again the Cardinals answered, scoring eight unanswered points—including a 3-pointer from Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) and a three-point play by Kaiser—to take the lead for good, 64-59.
 
Augsburg cut the deficit to three twice down the stretch, but could not come up with the game-tying bucket, as the Cardinals picked up their second straight win—and pushed their record to 3-0 on their home court.
 
Gleason finished with a career-high 20 points for the Cardinals, going 7-for-13 from the field, while adding a 3-for-4 effort from the 3-point line and going 3 of 3 from the line. Kaiser also had a big day from behind the arc, knocking down 4 of 6 treys en route to his 17 points.
 
After shooting 32 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes—sinking only 9 of 28 field goals, including just three 3-pointers—the Cardinals were unstoppable over the game's final 20 minutes, draining 17 of 29 second-half field-goal attempts, and finishing a near-perfect 7-for-10 from beyond the arc.
 
Collin Olmscheid finished with a team-best 13 points for the Auggies, who shot 42 percent from the field (23-for-55)—but were just 5 of 20 from the 3-point line.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 MIAC, 4-2 overall) are now off until next Wednesday, when they return to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 5 p.m. conference showdown with Carleton.