WINONA, Minn. — James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) had one of those nights Monday evening,
 
The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota junior just could not miss in the Cardinals' exhibition game against NCAA Division II Winona State Monday evening.
 
Literally.
 
Cullen knocked down his first five field goal attempts—including four straight 3-pointers—to spark the Cardinal offense against their cross-town rivals.
 
Unfortunately, as red-hot as Cullen was, the Cardinals learned first-hand just how explosive Winona State's offense was.
 
The host Warriors—fueled by first-half runs of 8-0 and 12-0—raced out to a 36-19 halftime advantage, and Winona State never looked back in dealing the Cardinals a 90-52 exhibition setback at McCown Gym.
 
Chad Schlosser (Stillwater, Minn.) knocked down Saint Mary's first field goal and Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) followed with a 3-pointer to give the Cardinals an early 5-2 advantage.
 
From there, however, Winona State took control.
 
The Warriors used a quick, 8-0 run to take a 10-5 lead, but the Cardinals' kept Winona State within striking distance, as Cullen netted the second of his first-half 3-pointers to pull Saint Mary's within six, 18-12, with nine minutes remaining.
 
Over the next six minutes, however, the Cardinals came up empty, and by the time Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) drained Saint Mary's third 3-pointer of the game, the Winona State lead had ballooned to 18, 30-12.
 
Cole Kruger (Hayfield, Minn.) and Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) would record Saint Mary's first two two-point field goals in the final three minutes of the half, but the Cardinals were left staring at a 17-point, 36-19 deficit at the break.
 
Saint Mary's offense heated up several degrees over the game's final 20 minutes, scoring 33 second-half points—only to have the Warriors kick their offense up a notch or two as well.
 
Winona State scored the first four points to open the second half, and slowly pulled away—pouring in 53 points on 23 of 41 shooting (56 percent) in the final 20 minutes to ice the victory.
 
Cullen finished with a team-high 14 points—hitting four straight 3-pointers and a fade-away jumper before missing his final field goal of the night—while Quashingm Smith-Pugh (St. Paul, Minn.) added eight points and Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) finished with six.
 
Kyle Bauman led four Warriors in double figures with 17 points, while Riley Bambenek chipped in 15, and Isaiah Gray and Corey Jeffs finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Saint Mary's returns to action on Saturday, kicking off the home portion of its 2016-17 schedule with a nonconference game against Luther at the Saint Mary's Gym. Tip is set for 3 p.m.