By
MEAGHAN UPDIKE
Saint Mary's Sports Information Intern
WINONA, Minn. — In a game where the lead changed hands 13 times — and never surpassed seven points either way — Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown between the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team and Bethel was bound to be a fight to the finish.
And it was.
Unfortunately, Bethel took advantage of three Saint Mary's turnovers in the waning minutes and scored the game's final seven points — rallying from an 83-81 deficit to beat the Cardinals 88-83 at the Saint Mary's Gym.
The Cardinals had the upper hand for the first 5:30 of the opening half, clinging to an 11-7 advantage. Over the next six minutes, the lead changed six times, the last time giving Saint Mary's a one-point, 18-17 lead.
The Cardinals maintained the lead until a Matt Ambriz 3-pointer with 56 seconds on the clock gave BU a one-point, 43-41, advantage.
Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) beat the halftime buzzer, scoring from underneath with seven seconds left to pull Saint Mary's even, 43-43, at the break.
Bethel opened the second half with five unanswered points and led by as many as seven, 54-47, four minutes into the game's final 20 minutes.
The Cardinals, however, were unfazed by the deficit, capping a 10-2 run with a
Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis.) layup to give Saint Mary's the lead back, 57-56. The Cardinals would build leads as big as five twice in the final minutes, and led by two, 83-81 with 3:02 to play on a pair of free throws by Rosner.
From there, however, the Royals took control, scoring seven unanswered points to foil the Cardinals' upset bid.
Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) was virtually unstoppable for the Cardinals, scoring a game-high 29 points — including 19 in the first half. The sophomore went 12-for-19 from the field and was 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Rosner (18),
Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) (14), and Chilson (12) also scored in double figures for Saint Mary's, which shot 56.1 percent from the field (32-for-57) an ddid not miss a free throw attempt (13-for-13).
The Cardinals (3-15 MIAC, 7-16 overall) are back in action on Saturday, squaring off against Macalester in a 3 p.m. MIAC matchup at Leonard Center in St. Paul, Minn.
