By
DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
WHEATON, Ill. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team entered Tuesday's game against the University of Dubuque looking to close out the 2019 portion of its schedule the same way they started it — with a win.
The Spartans, however, refused to cooperate.
Dubuque used an 11-2, game-ending run — erasing a 67-64 Saint Mary's lead with 2:11 to play — to lift the Spartans to a 75-69 win over the Cardinals during the second day of the Wheaton Holiday Tournament at King Arena.
The first half proved to be a real see-saw affair, with the Cardinals jumping out to a 5-2 lead — thanks to the first of three first-half 3-pointers by
Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) — while Dubuque scored 12 of the next 14 points to grab its biggest lead of the half, 14-7, with 14 minutes to play.
The Cardinals clawed to within one, 24-23, on an
Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) jumper with 7:09 remaining, but the Spartans would not relinquish the lead, outscoring Saint Mary's 15-11 the rest of the way to take a 39-34 advantage into the locker room at the break.
Saint Mary's opened the second half scoring seven of the first nine points, pulling even, 41-41 on a
Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn.) field goal. The Spartans quickly pushed the lead back to six, 47-41 — but again the Cardinals would not go away, pulling even, 51-51, on three-point lay by Cave, and took its firsts lead since early in the first half, 53-51, on a basket by
Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla.).
The Cardinals would hold a pair of three-point leads — the first, 65-62, on a Rosner layup and the second, 67-64, on a pair of free throws by Martin with 2:11 remaining in regulation.
From there, however, the Spartans took control.
A Carter Stevens 3-pointer pulled Dubuque even, 67-67, and after a Saint Mary's turnover, Mitch Burger converted a three-point play to give the Spartans the lead for good, 70-67 with 1:28 on the clock. Three straight Saint Mary's missed field goals — and a 5-for-6 effort from the free throw line by the Spartans — sealed the win, with Cave ending the Spartans' 11-0 run with a basket at the buzzer for the final six-point margin.
Cave — who was named to the All-Tournament Team — finished with a team-high 17 points for the Cardinals, who shot 35.9 percent from the field (23-for-64), with six 3-pointers, while adding a 17-for-20 effort from the free throw line. Rosner chipped in 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season — and third of his career — while Martin chipped in a career-best 14 points.
Luke Harper scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Spartans, who finished 22-for-57 from the field (38.6 percent) — with nine 3-pointers — and were a deadly 22-for-28 from the charity stripe.
The Cardinals (6-3 overall) return to Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, heading to Bethel's Robertson Center Gym in Arden Hills, Minn., for a 1 p.m. matchup with the Royals. The Spartans (8-3 overall) get back into American Rivers Conference action on Saturday, heading to Waverly, Iowa, for a 4 p.m. contest against Wartburg.
