By ALEX NUEHRING
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. — It was a battle of balanced rosters when Saint Mary's University men's basketball team hosted Augsburg University in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals boasted four players who were averaging more than nine points per game: Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) led the way, averaging 9.9 ppg, followed by Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis. / 9.7 ppg), James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill. / 9.3 ppg), and Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill. / 9.1 ppg).
 
Augsburg, meanwhile, had three players who averaged double-figures: Collin Olmscheid (18.6 ppg), Booker Coplin (12.5 ppg), and Kevin McKiernan (10.1 ppg). 
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, it was the Auggies' balanced—and high-powered—offensive attack that proved to have more punch, as Augsburg dealt Saint Mary's a 96-62 conference setback.
 
The two teams played the first few minutes of the opening half even, but a pair of 3-pointers by McKiernan highlighted a 9-0 run for the Auggies that gave them an early 14-5 lead.
 
After a Cardinals basket, Augsburg used seven straight points by Coplin to go on another 9-0 run to make it 23-7.
 
Saint Mary's responded with an 8-0 run of its own—thanks to five points from Cullen and a 3-pointer by Bailey.
 
The teams traded baskets before a 7-2 run by Augsburg increased their lead to 40-24, and another Auggie run—this time a 9-2 burst—pushed that lead to 19, 49-30 with 2:16 left in the first half.
 
The Cardinals climbed their way back into the game with two 3-pointers—one from Rosner and the other by David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.)—but Augsburg closed the half by scoring the last five points to boost their lead to 58-36 at the break.
 
The Auggies came out of halftime firing on all cylinders, using a 12-2 run to push their lead to 70-38.
 
Saint Mary's used three straight baskets by three different players—Stevens, Rosner, and Lindstrand—to cut the Auggies' lead to 30, 82-52 with 10:40 left in the second half, but that's as close as the Cardinals would get.
 
The Cardinals were led by Rosner, who finished with 11 points, while Cullen, Lindstrand, and Anthony-Bello each scored nine points.  The Auggies, meanwhile, got 24 points from Olmscheid and 19 from McKiernan.
 
Saint Mary's (0-13 MIAC, 1-17 overall) wraps up its three-game homestand with a conference game against St. Thomas on Monday, at 7 p.m. at the Saint Mary's Gym.