By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team kicks off its 2018-19 season on the road this weekend, traveling to Crown for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against the Storm on Saturday, before heading to UW-La Crosse for a 6 p.m. matchup against the Eagles the following evening.
 
The Matchups:
Saturday, November 10, 2018 * St. Bonifacius, Minn. * 3 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2017-18: 1-24 Overall) at Crown Storm (2017-18: 13-13 Overall)
Sunday, November 11, 2018 * La Crosse, Wis. * 6 p.m.
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (2017-18: 1-24 Overall) at UW-La Crosse Eagles  (13-13 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• vs. Crown: Live Stats * Live Video | vs. UW-La Crosse: Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's: This weekend's games at Crown and UW-La Crosse are the first of the season for the Cardinals.
• Crown—November 8, 2018 * St. Bonifacius, Minn.: The Storm kicked off their season with a 91-85 nonconference win over Hamline | Recap
• UW-La Crosse: Sunday's game against Saint Mary's is the Eagles' season-opener.
 
Saint Mary's vs. Crown—Their Last Meeting:
• January 5, 2015 * St. Bonifacius, Minn.: The Cardinals erupted for a season-high 46 first-half points and never looked back in cruising to an impressive 81-64 nonconference win over the Storm at the Wild Athletic Center | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. UW-La Crosse—Their Last Meeting:
• November 18, 2009 * Winona, Minn.: Josh Palmer (Faribault, Minn.), who tossed in 11 points in his collegiate debut against the University of Dubuque in Saint Mary's 73-62 season-opening victory, was at it again, pouring in a game-high 20 points against UW-La Crosse. Unfortunately, Palmer's heroics were not quite enough, as the Eagles knocked down four straight free throws in the game's final 13 seconds to seal UW-L's hard-fought, 77-69 nonconference victory at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals kick off the home portion of their schedule with an exhibition game on Nov. 20, as Saint Mary's entertains NCAA Division II Winona State in a 7 p.m. contest at the Saint Mary's Gym.
• Crown: The Storm return to action on Tuesday, heading to St. Cloud, Minn., for a 7 p.m. exhibition game against NCAA Division II St. Cloud State.
• UW-La Crosse: The Eagles are back on their home court at Mitchell Hall in La Crosse, Wis., on Wednesday, as UW-La Crosse hosts Luther in a 7 p.m. nonconference contest.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2017-18 Final Statistics
• Three of the Cardinals' last four games a year ago were decided by nine points or less — falling to Concordia (86-77), Macalester (81-80), and St. Thomas (70-61). … Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) and Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) closed out the season leading the team in scoring averaging 10.6 ppg and 10.5 ppg, respectively. … The Cardinals had a player score a career-high of 20 or more points in three of their last four games — Rosner recorded a career-high 23 points in the Cardinals' 86-77 loss at Concordia on Feb. 7, while Anthony-Bello netted back-to-back career-best 20-point efforts against Macalester and St. Thomas. … Anthony-Bello was the second Cardinal with two games of 20 or more points last season, and the third Cardinal to score 20 or more points in a game. Rosner also achieved that feat twice — scoring 23 points vs. Concordia on Feb. 7 and netting 20 against Carleton on Jan. 17 — while James Cullen (Western Springs, Ill.) owned the team's single-game season high with a career-best 24-point showing against Martin Luther on Nov. 14. … The Cardinals boasted eight players who recorded single-game career-highs of 10 or more points last season — Cullen (24), Rosner (23), Anthony-Bello (20), Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis. / 18), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 15), Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn. / 12), Christian Oliveras (Bolingbrook, Ill. / 11), and Kristjan Meitz (Waukesha, Wis. / 10). … Anthony-Bello owned the team's lone double-double last season, scoring 14 points and adding a career-best 11 rebounds against Concordia-Chicago on Nov. 25. … Bailey and Anthony-Bello each cracked the 100-rebound plateau, with Bailey hauling a team-best 111 boards (4.4 rpg), just two more than Anthony-Bello (4.4 rpg). … Lindstrand boasted a team-high 61 assists. He was one of five players with 20 or more assists — Bailey (38), Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill. / 32), Cullen (30), and Anthony-Bello (29) were the other four. … Anthony-Bello compiled a team-high 31 steals, while Bailey (20) and Anthony-Bello (14) accounted for 34 of the team's 58 blocked shots. … As a team, Saint Mary's drained 150 3-pointers, led by Anthony-Bello (42) and Cullen (36). … The Cardinals equaled their season high with 10 3-pointers against Concordia on Jan. 8. Saint Mary's also knocked down 10 3-pointers in their first meeting with Gustavus on Nov. 29. … The Cardinals shot 39.6 percent from the field (562-for-1418), while knocking down 277 of their 392 free throws (70.7 percent). … Saint Mary's drained a season-high 25 free throws against St. Thomas on Feb. 14. … The Cardinals put a season-high five players in double figures in their 86-76 loss to Concordia-Chicago on Nov. 25. … The Cardinals scored 80 or more points three times last season — including both meetings against Macalester. Along with its 80-point effort in an 81-80 loss to the Scots on Feb. 10, Saint Mary's netted 87 points in its first meeting with Macalester on Jan. 13, while scoring a season-high 89 in an 89-75 win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15. … The Cardinals' 89 points vs. Martin Luther not only marked their highest offensive performance of the season, but it was the most points scored since erupting for 106 points in a 111-106 loss to Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. The 106 points were just four shy of the school-record 110 points, set against UM-Duluth during the 1952-53 season. … With their 89-75 win over Martin Luther on Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now opened their season with a win in each of their last four seasons — including back-to-back years with season-opening victories over the Knights.
 
Scouting The Crown Storm:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2017-18 Final Statistics
• The Storm head into the 2018-19 campaign on the heels of a 13-13 season a year ago, including a 9-7 mark in UMAC action. … Crown qualified for the UMAC Tournament for the first time since 2013-14, falling to UM-Morris 110-96 in the opening round. … The Storm closed out the season a year ago boasting three players — Wendel (19.4 ppg), Austin VanDerHeyden (17.0 ppg), and Josh Voiness (14.3 ppg) — averaging in double figures. … Wendel's 19.4 ppg scoring average was tops in the UMAC last season. … Along with his team-leading scoring average, Wendel also closed out the year as the team's rebounding leader with 199 (7.7 rpg), followed by VanDerHeyden (178 / 6.8 rpg) and Christian Moore (151 / 5.8 rpg). … Trey Peace amassed a team-leading 105 assists, while Wendel and Voiness were tops in steals with 34 and 27, respectively. … As a team, Crown knocked down 249 3-pointers last season, led by Wendel with 71 and Voiness with 64. … Wendel put together the Storm's top two single-game performances, pouring in 33 points against St. Scholastica on Jan. 13 and a season-high 34 against Luther on Dec. 9. … Crown averaged 83.0 ppg last season, while its opponents scored at a 78.2 ppg clip. … As a team, Crown scored 90 or more points seven times — including a season-high 99-point effort in falling to Bethany Lutheran 104-99 on Feb. 7.
 
Scouting The UW-La Crosse Eagles:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2017-18 Final Statistics
• UW-La Crosse enters Sunday's season-opener against Saint Mary's coming off a 13-13 season in 2017-18 — including a 5-9 showing in the WIAC. … UW-La Crosse was bounced in the opening round of the conference tournament a year ago, falling to UW-Oshkosh 76-74. … The Eagles lost six games by three points or less last year. … UWL led the WIAC in steals (9.1 spg), turnover margin (+3.08), turnovers forced per game (16.3), while ranking second in offensive rebounds (10.5 orpg) in 2017-18. … UWL's 236 steals last year rank second in single-season school history.  … The Eagles recorded double digit steals in 11 games a year ago — including a season-high 17 at UW-Whitewater on Feb. 17 in a win that sealed UW-L's berth in the WIAC Tournament. …  The Eagles return three players who received All-WIAC post-season honors a year ago, led by First-Team All-WIAC selection Aaron Meinholz. Meinholz earned his first First-Team selection after being named to the honorable mention team in 2015-16 and 2016-17. … Meinholz is one of nine players in school history to earn at least three all-conference honors. … Brendon Manning and Toulvish McCray were both named All-WIAC honorable-mention a year ago. … Meinholz led UW-L in scoring (14.3 ppg), steals (59, 2.6 spg), blocks (14), field goals made (124) and field goals attempted (264) and free throws made (63) and attempted (82). … Meinholz scored in double figures in 18 of 23 games last season and finished with a season-high 24 points at UW-Stevens Point on Jan. 10 and at UW-Oshkosh on Feb. 21. … Meinholz — who is just eight points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career — recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and season-high 10 rebounds against UW-Stout on Feb. 14. … Meinholz was the only Eagle who averaged in double figures a year ago — Manning was second with a 9.4 ppg scoring average. … Manning led the team with 182 rebounds (7.0 rpg). … UW-L shot 44 percent from the field (676-for-1523), including 34 percent from 3-point range (178-for-522). … The Eagles boasted four players — McCray (36), Tanner Bruchs (36), Sam Skoyen (28), and Milton Cummings (28) — who knocked down 20 or more treys last season. … The Eagles averaged 68.9 ppg and scored 80 or more points four times — including a season-high 94-point showing against Luther in a 94-64 win on Nov. 15. … UW-La Crosse held an 854-773 scoring advantage in the first half, but the Eagles were outscored 956-937 after halftime. … UW-L played two overtime games last season — falling to both UW-River Falls 77-74 and UW-Whitewater 67-64. …