By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team could not find its shooting touch to open its exhibition game against NCAA Division II Winona State Tuesday evening — and the Warriors made them pay.
 
The Cardinals hit just one of first nine field goal attempts — and missed its first two free throws — as the Warriors raced out to a 17-2 lead and never looked back in dealing Saint Mary's a 104-63 setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
There was a silver lining to Saint Mary's loss to the crosstown Warriors … the end result didn't count for the Cardinals, who were playing the game as an exhibition contest, while Winona State treated it as a regular-season game.
 
While the Cardinals struggled to find their shooting touch early, the Warriors were heated up from start to finish, shooting 67 percent from the field in the first half (20-for-30) — including draining 8 of 11 3-pointers — as Winona State grabbed a commanding 56-29 lead at the break.
 
And it was more of the same in the second half, as WSU continued its torrid shooting — especially from long range — going 5-for-10 from behind the arc as part of a 12-for-22 second-half effort from the field.
 
Saint Mary's, which made 11 of its final 17 field goal attempts in the first half, poured in seven 3-pointers over the game's final 20 minutes in trying to keep pace with the Warriors, but it was not enough.
 
Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis.) finished with 10 points on 5 of 9 shooting to pace the Cardinals, while Kevion Taylor recorded a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead six Warriors who finished in double figures.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) return to action on Saturday, hosting Luther in a 3 p.m. nonconference game at the Saint Mary's Gym.