By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WINONA, Minn. — If Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener against St. Olaf is any indication, it's going to be wild, highly competitive — and at times nerve-wracking — conference season for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball teams.
 
The Cardinals kicked off conference play putting four players in double figures — not to mention rallying from a double-digit deficit — against St. Olaf Wednesday at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
Unfortunately for Saint Mary's, one final, late-game push came up just short, as St. Olaf held off the hard-charging Cardinals in dealing SMU a 75-67 setback.
 
St. Olaf scored the game's opening basket, and never relinquished the lead through the game's opening 20 minutes, building a nine-point lead, 30-21, with just over three minutes remaining until halftime.
 
Saint Mary's — behind back-to-back field goals from Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) — clawed within three, 34-31 late in the half, only to have the Oles knock down a pair of free throws in the waning seconds to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room at the break.
 
Cave continued to have the hot hand for Saint Mary's to open the second half, netting two more field goals as part of an 12-9 burst to cut the Ole lead to two, 45-43.
 
A 3-pointer by Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) gave Saint Mary's its first lead of the game, 46-45, and another trey by Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) put the Cardinals in front 49-48 midway through the second half.
 
From there, however, the Oles got hot, rattling off 11 unanswered points to grab a 10-point, 59-49 advantage. Back-to-back field goals by St. Olaf's Troy Diggins Jr. as part of a 6-0 burst, pushed the Oles' lead to a game-high 13, 69-56 with 1:14 on the clock.
 
A pair of free throws and two 3-pointers by Cave, and another 3-pointer by David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn.), put the Cardinals back within six, 73-67 — but the late Cardinal rally ran out of time.
 
Cave led the way for the Cardinals with 20 points — going 8-for-16 from the field, including three 3-pointers — while Caden Freetly chipped in 13 points, and Rosner and Gleason delivered 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Saint Mary's shot 42 percent from the field (25-for-59) and knocked down 12 3-pointers — one shy of their season high — while adding a 5-for-6 showing from the free throw line. St. Olaf, meanwhile, hit on 52 percent of its shots (25-for-48) with six 3-pointers and a 19-for-29 effort from the charity stripe.
 
St. Olaf's Austin Korba matched Cave with 20 points, while Diggins Jr. chipped in 17, and Dominic Bledsoe and Frank Delany each finished with 11.
 
The Cardinals (0-1 MIAC, 3-2 overall) are back on their home court at the Saint Mary's Gym on Saturday, hosting Carleton in a 3 p.m. conference matchup.