By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team entered Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown against Hamline in dire need of a pick-me-up.
 
And Hamline proved to be just the perfect tonic to cure the Cardinals' woes.
 
The Cardinals put five player in double figures — led by Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) with 21 points — and used a 22-5 run late in the second half to pull away from the pesky Pipers en route to an 87-73 conference win at Hutton Arena.
 
Saint Mary's came out firing, building leads as big as seven, only to have Hamline come racing back, as the Pipers scored 10 of the final 15 points of the half to take a 39-37 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
It was more of the same through the opening 10 minutes of the second half, with neither team able to lead by more than four points.
 
And then came the game's final 10-minute stretch — and what a stretch it was for the Cardinals.
 
With the game deadlocked at 61-61 with 10:58 to play, the Cardinals went on a 22-5 run — including knocking down eight unanswered points — to put the game out of reach, 83-66.
 
Rosner was one of five Cardinals to score in double figures, being joined by Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn. / 16), Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill. / 16), Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn. / 13), and Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla. / 11). Saint Mary's shot 48.5 percent from the field (32-for-66) — and equaled the single-game school record with 14 3-pointers — while adding a 9 of 12 showing from the free throw line.
 
Hamline, which shot 50.0 percent from the field (28-for-56), including 12 3-pointers, was led by Luke Siwek's game-high 22-point effort. Jake Larson (16) and Trey Prince (11) also scored in double figures for the Pipers.
 
The Cardinals (3-4 MIAC, 6-6 overall) are back on the road on Wednesday, heading to Saint John's Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn., for their second meeting of the season with the nationally ranked Johnnies. The Pipers (0-7 MIAC, 2-10 overall), meanwhile, hit the road on Wednesday, heading across town to Macalester's Leonard Center for a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Scots.