WINONA, Minn. — It was the last season—and final home-opener in a Cardinal uniform—for Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball senior James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.).
 
And the guard saved his best opener for last.
 
Led by Cullen, the Cardinals secured an early lead and never relinquished the advantage, securing a 89-75 nonconference win over Martin Luther at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Cullen scored a career-high 24 points—eclipsing his previous career-best 22-point effort against Carnegie Mellon a year ago.
 
Cullen knocked down five of his 11 field goal attempts in the first half, including three 3-pointers, as the Cardinals took a commanding 47-30 lead into the halftime break. Cullen followed that up by draining two more field goals and seven of his eight free throw attempts en route to his game-high performance.
 
The Knights made things interesting in the first 10 minutes of the second half, twice whittling the Cardinal lead to one. The Cardinals, however, weathered the storm—thanks in part to a strong performance at the free throw line by Bradley Hill (Matterson, Ill.), who went 5-for-6 from the line in the second half.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 43.3 percent from the field (29-for-67) and went 24-for-28 from the free throw line. Along with Cullen's 24-point effort, the Cardinals also got 12 points from both David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) and Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.), while Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) chipped in 10.
 
The Knights also finished with four players in double figures, led by T.J. Babinec with 17 points. Richard Eckmann chipped in 15, Joey Behm added 14, and Ian Paulsen tallied 12.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 overall) are back in action on Saturday, as they travel to Decorah, Iowa, for a 3 p.m. nonconference matchup against Luther.