By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota men's basketball team plays its final road game of the season on Saturday, as the Cardinals head to Macalester's Leonard Center for a 3 p.m. conference showdown against the Auggies.
 
The Matchup:
• Saint Mary's Cardinals (3-15 MIAC, 7-16 Overall) at Macalester Scots (3-15 MIAC, 6-17 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's—February 6, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Bethel scored the game's final seven points, rallying from an 83-81 deficit to deal the Cardinals an 88-83 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• Macalester—February 6, 2019 * Northfield, Minn.: Jackson Henningfield scored 21 points and Wyatt Ferm hit his 1,000^th career point, as the Scots held off Carleton 60-57 at West Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester — Earlier This Year:
• January 12, 2019 * Winona, Minn.: Wyatt Ferm knocked down a fade-away jumper with 0.7 seconds remaining in regulation to lift Macalester to a 75-74 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over the Cardinals at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Macalester — A Year Ago:
• January 13, 2018 * Winona, Minn.: The Scots found their stride within the game's opening 10 minutes and erupted for 62 first-half points in dealing the Cardinals a 116-87 MIAC setback at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
• February 10, 2018 * St. Paul, Minn.: Saint Mary's failed to convert on any of its final three field goal attempts in dropping a heartbreaking, 81-80 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference decision to Macalester at Leonard Center | Recap
 
Up Next:
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals are now off until next Saturday, when they close out their 2018-19 season with a home game against nationally ranked St. Thomas. Game time at the Saint Mary's Gym is scheduled for 3 p.m.
• Macalester: The Scots close out their 2018-19 schedule on Wednesday, hosting Augsburg in a 7 p.m. contest at Leonard Center in St. Paul, Minn.
 
Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals: 
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Macalester is the fifth game in a 10-day stretch for the Cardinals. … The Cardinals' trip to Macalester's Leonard Center on Saturday is the final road game of the season. Saint Mary's closes out its regular-season schedule next Saturday at home against league-leading St. Thomas. … The Cardinals have now had 10 of their 16 losses decided by 10 points or less, including three of their last four decided by five points or less — a five-point 90-85 overtime loss to St. Olaf on Jan. 31, a three-point, 68-65 loss to Hamline on Monday and a five-point, 88-83 setback vs. Bethel on Wednesday. … Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) scored a team- and game-high 29 points — including 19 in the first half — in the Cardinals' loss to Bethel on Wednesday. Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) chipped in 18 points vs. the Royals, while Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) and Jacob Chilson (Eau Claire, Wis.) added 14 and 12, respectively. … Thanks to his 29 points against Bethel Wednesday, Cave has led or shared the team lead in scoring 15 times this season. … Cave has scored 10 or more points in 22 of the team's 23 contests this season — including eight games of 20 or more points. … Cave poured in a season- and career-high 35 points in the Cardinals' nonconference win over Martin Luther on Nov. 17. … Cave's 35-point effort was the highest single-game performance since Michael Burfeind netted 38 against Concordia on Dec. 7, 2011. … Cave and Freetly accounted for 44 of the Cardinals' 65 points in last Monday's 68-65 loss to Hamline — Cave scored a game-high 23 points, while Freetly chipped in a career-best 21. … Saint Mary's has had two players score 20 or more points in the same game three times this season — including twice in the last four games. Cave and Rosner each finished with 24 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 24, while Cave and Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) recorded 29 and 21 points, respectively, against Gustavus on Dec. 8. … The Cardinals have now had a player score a career-high of 10 or more points in three of their last four games. Bradley Hill (Matteson, Ill.) tossed in a career-best 19 points against Augsburg on Feb. 2, while Rosner poured in a career-high 24 points against St. Olaf on Jan. 31. … Along with his career-high 21 points, Freetly also matched his collegiate-best with 12 rebounds against Hamline on Monday for his second double-double of the season. … Cave leads the team with three double-doubles, while Rosner owns Saint Mary's other two. … The Cardinals boast 11 players who have posted single-game career-highs of 10 or more points this season — Cave (35), Rosner (24), Freetly (21), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 22), Anthony-Bello (21), Jakob Bailey (Cameron, Wis. / 19), David Lindstrand (Lakeville, Minn. / 19), Hill (19), Chilson (15), Nicolas Seaton (Lansing, Ill. / 12), and Brady Stevens (St. James, Minn. / 12). … Cave heads into Saturday's conference matchup against Macalester averaging a team-best 18.7 ppg — ranking the sophomore No. 4 in scoring in the MIAC. … Rosner is second on the team in scoring at 10.2 ppg, followed by Freetly (9.5 ppg) and Gleason (9.3 ppg), and Freetly (9.3 ppg). … Along with his 18.7 ppg scoring average, Cave also leads the team in rebounds (155, 6.7 rpg) and assists (83). … Freetly (128, 5.6 rpg) and Rosner (90, 4.3 rpg) have also collected 90 or more rebounds this season. … Freetly boasts a team-best 20 blocked shots and also leads the team in steals with 21, three more than both Cave and Rosner. … As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 43.1 percent from the field (591-for-1370) and are 215-for-296 (72.6 percent) from the free throw line. … The Cardinals were a perfect 13-for-13 from the free throw line against Bethel on Wednesday, marking the second time this season Saint Mary's has not missed in 13 chances this season — SMU was also 13-for-13 against Concordia on Jan. 16. … Saint Mary's has drained a single-season school record 210 3-pointers — including a single-game school-record 14 against Gustavus on Dec. 5. The 210 treys are 21 more than the previous record of 189, set during the 1995-96 season. … The Cardinals have knocked down 10 or more 3-pointers in a game 11 times this season. … Saint Mary's has seven players with 10 or more 3-pointers this season — Gleason (39), Rosner (38), Freetly (37), Cave (26), Hill (19), Anthony-Bello (12), and Bailey (10). … Saint Mary's is averaging 69.3 ppg, while the Cardinals' opponents are scoring at a 75.8 ppg clip … After scoring more than 80 points just once in their first 19 games, the Cardinals have scored 85, 80, and 83 points in three of their last four contests. … The Cardinals have scored 70 or more points in each of their seven wins this season — including a season-high 86 points against Gustavus on Dec. 8. … Saint Mary's put a season-high five players in double figures against Gustavus on Jan. 26. … The Cardinals' 90-85 loss to St. Olaf on Jan. 31 was their first overtime game of the season — and first since dropping a 111-106 OT decision to Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. … The Cardinals put to rest another pair of long streaks with their 79-64 win over Gustavus on Jan. 26. Not only did Saint Mary's snap its season-high eight-game losing streak, but the Cardinals also completed the two-game MIAC sweep of the Gusties — something they had not done since the 1979-80 season, when SMU beat GAC 86-78 and 91-81. … Earlier this year, the Cardinals snapped a 19-game road losing streak with their season-opening 76-71 win at Crown on Nov. 10. Saint Mary's also ended a 27-game conference losing streak with a 71-64 win over Concordia on Dec. 5, and, three days later, SMU halted a 35-game road losing streak against Gustavus, beating the Gusties 86-81. It was Saint Mary's first win in St. Peter, since beating GAC 86-82 in overtime during the 1982-83 season. … With their 76-67 win over North Park on Dec. 29, the Cardinals closed out the nonconference portion of their schedule with a 4-1 mark — the lone loss, a 70-60 setback against UW-La Crosse on Nov. 11. … Saint Mary's 3-1 start to the season was its best since the 2010-11 season, when the Cardinals opened 8-1. … With their 76-71 win over Crown on Nov. 10, the Cardinals have now won their season-opener in each of their last five seasons. … Saint Mary's season-opening win over Crown on Nov. 10 was the first collegiate coaching victory for Cardinal head coach Joe Fano.
 
Scouting The Macalester Scots:
2018-19 Roster | 2018-19 Schedule | 2018-19 Statistics
• Saturday's game against Saint Mary's is the first of back-to-back home games to close out the season for the Scots, who will host Augsburg on Wednesday in their season-finale. … After dropping back-to-back games against nationally ranked opponents #5 St. Thomas (94-61) and #12 Saint John's (80-59, the Scots head into Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's having won two straight — by a combined eight points. Macalester beat Concordia 68-63 in overtime on Monday, before edging Carleton 60-57 two days later. … Jackson Henningfield scored a team-high 21 points against the Knights Monday, while Wyatt Ferm chipped in 19 — including his 1,000^th career point. … Henningfield and Ferm accounted for 40 of the Scots' 60 points in Wednesday's 60-57 win. … Henningfield (18.5 ppg) and Ferm (14.8 ppg) both head into the Scots' final two games of the season averaging in double figures. … Ferm leads the team with 202 rebounds (8.8 rpg), and is one of three Scots with 100 or more boards through 23 games — Henningfield (173, 7.5 rpg) and Gabriel Ramos (100, 4.3 rpg) are the other two. … Ferm has dished out a team-leading 67 assists, seven more than Nikhil Smith, while also leading the team with 28 steals. … Henningfield is the team-leader in block shots with 28, six more than Ferm. … As a team, the Scots are shooting 42.0 percent from the field (527-for-1254) and 66.8 percent from the free throw line (211-for-316). … Macalester has knocked down 178 3-pointers, led by Henningfield (57), Eric Sathy (36), Smith (27), Babb (21). … The Scots are scoring at a 62.7 ppg clip, while their opponents are averaging 74.7 ppg. … Macalester has scored 70 or more points just five times this season — including a season-high 83 in a 97-83 loss to Crown on Nov. 15.