By EMILY LOOF
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team was hoping to reverse their recent trend of slow starts and secure their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the season Saturday afternoon when they played host to Bethel.
 
Unfortunately, the slow-start pattern continued to haunt the Cardinals, as Saint Mary's struggled getting its offense on track—and the Royals opened the contest red-hot—as Bethel dealt SMU an 81-60 setback at Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Against Carleton on Wednesday, the Cardinals were unable to overcome the Knights' offensive explosion, falling behind 12-0 and never recovering in a 78-38 loss.
 
History initially looked to be repeating itself on Saturday.
 
The Royals were 6-for-6 from the field to start the game, taking a commanding 16-0 lead. The Cardinals, meanwhile, came up empty on its first four field-goal attempts and were kept off the board until four minutes in, when Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wisc.) finally broke through with a jumper.
 
The Cardinals kept fighting, however, reducing the Royals lead to just seven points, 30-23, with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half.
 
Unfortunately, the Royals' offense never cooled, scoring 44 first-half points to grab a 44-27 advantage at the break. The Royals shot an impressive 68 percent from the field in the game's opening 20 minutes—going 17-for-25—while the Cardinals rebounded from that 0-for-4 start to shoot 42 percent from the field, knocking down 11 of 26 field goals.
 
A plethora of fouls weakened the Cardinals' second-half offensive efforts, as they saw themselves surpassing the six-foul limit and entering bonus shot territory with 14:29 still remaining in regulation. And the Royals did not waste those opportunities at the charity line, sinking 10 of their 12 free throws in the second half.
 
Saint Mary's was not about to throw in the towel, however, as the Cardinals whittled the Royals' lead to 10 points on four separate occasions—50-40, 52-42, 54-44, and 56-46—all before the halfway point of the second half.
 
But those efforts weren't enough, as Bethel responded with nine unanswered points, allowing the Royals to extend their lead to 65-46 with just over seven minutes on the clock—and BU would not look back.
 
The Cardinals' Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) surpassed his team-high of 10 points scored against Carleton, leading the Saint Mary's offense with 12 points, while Bailey and Bradley Hill (Matterson, Ill.) followed closely behind with 11 points apiece.
 
Matt Ambriz and Derek Magnuson put up 16 points each to pace the Royals, followed by Bridgeport Tusler and Jack Jenson, who both had 11.
 
The Cardinals (0-4 MIAC, 1-6 overall) continue MIAC play on Wednesday, as they travel to Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. matchup against Saint Olaf at Skoglund Center.