By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NEW ULM, Minn. — Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team's nonconference showdown against Martin Luther proved to be a study in momentum swings.
 
Fortunately for the Cardinals, momentum swung in their favor more often — and getting a career-high 35 points from Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) didn't hurt either — as Saint Mary's rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to deal the Knights a 79-63 setback.
 
For the first five minutes Saturday, the Cardinals could do no wrong, scoring the game's first 10 points for what appeared to be a commanding 10-0 advantage.
 
Martin Luther, however, turned the tables over the next five minutes, using a 9-0 run of its own to make it a one-point game, 10-9. The Knights continued to ride the momentum, scoring five unanswered points to grab their first lead of the game, 24-21, with 4:16 remaining in the half.
 
A Cave layup cut the Cardinals deficit to one, 24-23, but Martin Luther closed the half scoring six of the final nine points to take a 30-26 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
Martin Luther knocked down the first basket of the second half to make it a 32-26 Knight lead, but it was all Cardinals after that, as Saint Mary's — fueled by a pair of free throws from Jakob Bailey and a field goal by Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) — took the lead for good, 33-32 with 16:13 remaining in regulation.
 
Gleason and Cave knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 10-0 run to give Saint Mary's a seven-point, 39-32 advantage. Saint Mary's would push that lead to 10 four times — 50-40, 55-45, 57-47, and 60-50 — before sandwiching 3-pointers from Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) and Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) around a layup by David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.) to push its lead to 15, 65-50 with 4:22 left on the clock.
 
Martin Luther mounted one final push, trimming the Saint Mary's lead to 10, 69-59, with 2:22 remaining, but Saint Mary's outscored the Knights 8-4 — knocking down eight free throws and getting a Deven Nebo (Coon Rapids, Minn.) field goal — to ice the win.
 
As good as Cave was in the first half, scoring 11 of the Cardinals' 26 points, the sophomore was unstoppable over the game's final 20 minutes, pouring in 24 points en route to his game- and career-best 35-point effort. Cave's showing is the highest single-game performance since Michael Burfeind tossed in 38 points against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2011.
 
Freetly and Gleason also finished in double figures for the Cardinals, scoring 15 and 13 points respectively. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 46 percent from the field (25-for-54) and drained nine 3-pointers, while finishing 18-for-24 from the free throw line.
 
Ethan Eisemann netted 13 points and Gregory Heichelbach delivered 10 in the losing effort for Martin Luther, which hit on 38 percent of its field goals (20-for-53) and was 18 of 22 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, heading to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. exhibition game against NCAA Division II Winona State.