WINONA, Minn. - The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team collected its seventh Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season Wednesday evening-the most conference victories since the Cardinals went 7-13 during the 2009-10 season.
And the Cardinals' three seniors-playing in their final collegiate home games-all played an instrumental role.
Connor Kaiser (Rockland, Wis.) and
Mark Schumacher (Perham, Minn.) each scored 11 points, while
Will Swiggum (St. Charles, Minn.) tossed in eight points and added seven rebounds and four assists, as the Cardinals pulled away in the second in half in beating Hamline 74-61 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
Both teams played from out front in the game's opening 20 minutes, as Saint Mary's had the upper hand early, leading by two on three separate occasions in the game's first five minutes.
The Pipers then had their turn, using a 10-5 burst to grab the biggest lead of the first half, 24-19 with less than three minutes remaining. Saint Mary's answered by scoring eight of the next 10 points-the last two on a pair of free throws by Kaiser-for a 27-26 Cardinal advantage.
A 3-pointer by Quinton Garvis sparked a half-ending 7-4 Hamline run to give the Pipers a two-point, 33-31 lead heading into the locker room at the half.
The Cardinals opened the second half on an 11-0 run-and never looked back. Saint Mary's built its lead to as many as 10 three times-the last at 47-37-in the first five minutes. Hamline would close the gap to three four times, the last time at 59-56 with four minutes remaining in regulation.
That, however, would be as close as Hamline would get, as Saint Mary's outscored the Pipers 15-5 down the stretch-including a 10-for-12 performance from the free throw line-to ice the victory.
Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) joined Gleason and Schumacher in double figures for the Cardinals, scoring a team--high 18 points, while
Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) chipped in 12 points and added nine boards.
Isaac Brooks scored 19 points and Herbert Tarpeh chipped in 12 in the losing effort for the Pipers.
Saint Mary's (7-12 MIAC, 9-15 overall) closes out it regular season, traveling to St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference matchup against St. Thomas.
