By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
WHEATON, Ill. — If Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Joe Fano had a "do-over" card in his back pocket, he probably would have played it after the first half of the Cardinals' nonconference game against host Wheaton at the Wheaton Holiday Tournament Monday.
 
Saint Mary's never got into an offensive rhythm in the first half — making just one of its first 18 field goal attempts and shooting 28 percent from the field — and, despite a gallant effort down the stretch, the Cardinals could not overcome the first-half hole they had put themselves in, falling to the Thunder 77-67 at King Gym.
 
The Cardinals could not find their shooting touch in the game's opening 20 minutes, missing their first seven field goal attempts. Fortunately, Wheaton wasn't having much more success, hitting on just one of six field goals, and, after Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) hit the Cardinals' first field goal, the two teams had combined for just six points — and a 4-2 Thunder lead — through the first four minutes.
 
Saint Mary's shooting woes continued after Cave's basket, as the Cardinals missed their next 10 attempts from the field, and found themselves staring at a 19-2 deficit with eight minutes to play. Wheaton — which knocked down 9 of 11 3-pointers in the first half — built its lead to as many as 20, 44-24, before Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn.) buried a 3-pointer with 41 seconds remaining to pull the Cardinals within 44-27 at the break.
 
Stinging from a 9-for-32 effort from the field, including 5 of 17 from behind the arc, the Cardinals' offense came to life, hitting on its first three attempts from the field in the second half — all coming from Cave, who scored Saint Mary's first seven points of the half in getting the Cardinals within 13, 47-34, with 17:04 to play.
 
Wheaton had an answer, scoring nine of the next 10 points and the Thunder lead was back to 21, 56-35. Saint Mary's again chipped away, getting within 15 on a Stevens jumper, but another Wheaton dagger — this one a 3-pointer by Anajuwon Spencer — pushed the lead back to 18, 59-41 with 11:26 to play.
 
The Cardinals clawed to within 11, 75-54 on a James Connolly (Round Lake Park, Ill.) 3-pointer with 59 seconds remaining, and, after a Brandon Orange basket, Connolly drilled another trey to get Saint Mary's within 10, 77-67.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Cardinals would get in falling for just the second time in eight games this season.
 
Cave finished with a team-high 20 points — including 15 in the second half, while Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla.) chipped in 12 and Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn.) added nine. The Cardinals were much more proficient from the field in the second half, shooting 16-for-32 (50 percent) with a pair of 3-pointers. For the game, Saint Mary's finished 25-for-64 (39.1 percent) — including 7-for-26 from the 3-point line — and added a 10 of 17 showing from the free thorw line.
 
Wheaton — which shot 45.6 percent from the field (26-for-57), and knocked down 12 3-pointers — put four players in double figures, led by Nyameye Adom with 16, and Tyson Cruickshank and Cade Alioth with 15 points each.
 
The Cardinals (6-2 overall) are back in action on Tuesday, squaring off against the University of Dubuque — which lost to Hanover 65-57 earlier Monday — in the 2 p.m. consolation game of the Wheaton Holiday Tournament.