By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team has been in more than its fair share of nailbiters this season — and Thursday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against St. Olaf moved to the top of that list.
 
The Cardinals drilled a 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in regulation to pull even — and force overtime — against the host Oles, but St. Olaf had the upper hand in the five-minute extra session, outscoring Saint Mary's 10-5 to secure a 90-85 victory at Skoglund Center.
 
The Cardinals grabbed the momentum early, racing out to an 8-4 lead — thanks in large part to a six-point early game showing by Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) — but the Oles would battle back, scoring nine of the next 12 points to grab a 13-10 advantage five minutes into the first half.
 
A Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) 3-pointer knotted the game at 13-13, and the two teams would take turns playing with the lead over the next seven minutes, with the Cardinals grabbing their final lead of the half, 31-30, on a Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) 3-pointer with 8:37 on the clock.
 
From there, however, the Oles took control, building eight-point leads on two separate occasions — including 46-38 with 3:11 to play until halftime — before settling for a six-point, 48-42 lead heading into the break.
 
Midway through the second half, the Cardinals found themselves right where they had started game's final 20 minutes — trailing St. Olaf by six, 62-56.
 
And then the Cardinals found their mojo, taking their first lead since early in the first half, 75-73, on a Hill jumper with 2:05 to play in regulation. Saint Mary's got a pair of free throws from Gleason with 1:34 left to take a 77-76 lead, but the Oles answered by scoring the next four points for an 80-76 lead with 23 seconds on the clock.
 
Enter Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.), who dropped a 3-point bomb with just five ticks on the clock to pull the Cardinals even — and send the game into overtime.
 
Cave picked up where he left off in the extra session, completing a three-point play for an 83-80 Saint Mary's lead. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, St. Olaf would score 10 of the next 12 points over the final 4:10 over overtime to claim the five-point victory.
 
Cave and Rosner each scored 24 points to lead the Cardinals, while Hill also finished in double figures with 14 points. Rosner added 12 rebounds to his career-best 24 points en route to his second collegiate double-double. Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) also hauled in a career-best 12 boards in the losing effort.
 
Saint Mary's shot 47 percent from the field (31-for-66) and rain3ed in 11 3-pointers, while posting a 12-for-14 effort from the free throw line. St. Olaf — which got 22 points from Austin Korba and 21 from Troy Diggins Jr. — went 33-for-68 from the field (48.5 percent) with nine 3-pointers and hit on 15 of its 22 free throws.
 
The Cardinals (3-12 MIAC, 7-13 overall) are back in action on Saturday, heading to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 3 p.m. conference showdown against the Auggies.