WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team has been riding an emotional rollercoaster this week.
 
The Cardinals opened the week with a buzzer-beating 78-76 loss to Macalester, and following that up with a nail-biting 75-70 win over Hamline two days later.
 
So it should come as no surprise that Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown with St. Olaf would come down to the final minutes.
 
Unfortunately, the outcome of Saturday's ride was not as enjoyable as Wednesday's, as St. Olaf used a 10-2 run to push its four-point lead to 10, 62-52—and the Oles would knock down six consecutive free throws down the stretch to seal their 74-63 victory over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals struggled to find their shooting touch early, falling behind 13-2, before using an 18-7 run to knot the game at 20-20 on an Aaron Romportl put-back with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
 
The Oles, however, responded with a 12-2 run of their own to regain a 10-point advantage, 32-22, and maintained that cushion, 34-24, heading into the locker room at the break.
 
The Cardinals whittled away at the Ole lead early in the second half, getting back-to-back 3-pointers from Jason Timm (Brillion, Wis.) to cut the gap to three, 44-41. St. Olaf quickly answered with five straight points to make it 48-41, but again the Cardinals would battle back, cutting the deficit down to four twice—including 52-48 with 8:50 to play in regulation.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get, as St. Olaf scored 13 of the next 17 points to take an 11-point, 65-54 lead with 3:24 on the clock. Saint Mary's got the lead down to six, 65-59, but four straight misses on their next four possessions forced the Cardinals to foul—and the Oles did not miss from the line to ice the win.
 
Wylie Ferron (Waconia, Minn.) scored 16 points and hauled in nine rebounds for the Cardinals, who shot 37 percent from the field (23-for-62), but were just 7 of 30 from behind the 3-point line. Timm finished with a career-high 12 points and Aaron Romportl (Stillwater, Minn.) added 11 for Saint Mary's.
 
Robert Tobroxen poured in a game-high 22 points and Austin Korba chipped in 19 for the Oles, who hit on 53 percent of their field goal attempts (27-for-51) and were 16 of 21 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (4-12 MIAC, 6-14 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, entertaining Bethel in a 7 p.m. conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.