By ALEX NUEHRING
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
 
WINONA, Minn. — It took an extra week—thanks to last Monday's snowstorm—but the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team finally got to square off against St. Thomas in the first of two Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic games between the two teams over the next 16 days.
 
And for 20 minutes, the Cardinals gave the high-powered Tommies all they could handle.
 
Over the final 20 minutes, however, St. Thomas was virtually unstoppable, scoring 59 second-half points—while limiting the Cardinals to just 19—in handing Saint Mary's a 100-48 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Playing in their third road game in the last four contests, the Tommies showed no signs of road weariness, as they started the game on an 11-2 run—including a rare 5-point possession in which UST's Jason Boll scored on a layup and was fouled, but missed the free throw, only to have the Tommies Erik Davis haul in the rebound and feed Burt Hedstrom, who rained in a 3-pointer.
 
Unfazed, the Cardinals came storming back, using a 10-3 run of their own to make it a three-point game, 17-14, with 12:32 left in the first half.  St. Thomas answered by scoring seven of the next nine points to push its lead to eight, 24-16 midway through the half.
 
The see-saw first half continued, as Saint Mary's cut the deficit to 32-27, only to have St. Thomas close the half by scoring nine of the last 11 points to take a 41-29 advantage into the locker room at the break.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, St. Thomas picked up right where they left off to open the second half—forcing three early Saint Mary's turnovers and rattling off 19 unanswered points to push their lead to 31, 60-29, with 14 minutes left in the game.
 
Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn.) scored the Cardinals' first point of the second half, hitting the second of two free throws, only to have St. Thomas score eight straight points to make it 68-30.
 
Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) hit the Cardinals' first field of the second half at 10:56—the first of just seven second-half field goals—but the Cardinals would get no closer than 36 points the rest of the way.
 
Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) scored a team-high 14 points and added seven rebounds for the Cardinals—including 12 in the first half—while Anthony-Bello chipped in 12. Saint Mary's shot 34 percent from the field (18-for-53) and were just 1 of 14 from behind the 3-point line.
 
St. Thomas boasted three players—Michael Hannon, Tyler Potts, and Connor Bair—with 11 points each, while Thomas Madison added 10. The Tommies went 36-for-68 from the field (52.9 percent)—including a 61.8-percent showing in the second half (21-for-34) and drained 16 of 36 3-point attempts.
 
Saint Mary's (0-14 MIAC, 1-18 overall) returns to action on Saturday, when the Cardinals travel to Arden Hills, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference matchup against Bethel at Robertson Center.