By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WINONA, Minn. — When
Joe Fano picked up his first collegiate coaching win in the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's season-opening victory over Crown last season, it took a clutch
Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining in regulation to spark the nail-biting, 76-71 victory.
Monday evening, the Cardinals were once again opening their season against the Storm.
Only this time, Saint Mary's wasn't about to wait until the waning seconds to lock up the victory.
Despite a sluggish start, the Cardinal offense came to life, outscoring the Storm 16-1 over the final 7:37 of the first half — erasing a 21-11 Crown lead and leading Saint Mary's to a 68-52 nonconference win at the Saint Mary's Gym.
It was the Storm that had the upper hand early, building leads as bit as 10 twice — 16-6 and 21-11.
That second 10-point lead, however, proved to be the wake-up call the Cardinals needed, as Saint Mary's scored 16 of the next 17 points — including eight straight from
Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.), the last two giving Saint Mary's its first lead of the game, 22-21 with 2:25 to play in the opening half.
Leading 27-22 at the break, the Cardinals kept their foot on the accelerator over the game's final 20 minutes, outscoring Crown 41-30 en route to the season-opening victory.
Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) led the way for Saint Mary's, scoring 24 points — knocking down 6 of 8 3-point attempts — and adding seven rebounds, while Rosner finished with 12 points.
Christian Moore finished with a team-high 14 points for Crown, while Timothy Wendel — who entered Monday's game having scored 32 and 31 points in the team's first two games — was held to just 13 points and 12 boards.
The Cardinals (0-0 overall) are off until Nov. 23, when they kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 1 p.m. home contest against St. Olaf at the Saint Mary's Gym. The Storm (1-1 overall), meanwhile, are back on the road on Wednesday, heading to Storm Lake, Iowa, for a 7 p.m. nonconference game against Buena Vista
