By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PETER, Minn. — Pressure? What pressure?
 
The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team knew exactly what was at stake when the Cardinals took the court Wednesday evening against Gustavus: Beat the Gusties, and Saint Mary's was heading to the post-season for the first time in 35 years. Lose, and the Cardinals' road to the post-season was filled with minefields.
 
With so much on the line, the Cardinals played like post-season veterans, building leads as big as 16 points in the second half, and holding off a late, second-half Gustavus charge, in beating the Gusties 71-63 — and officially punch that long-awaited post-season ticket.
 
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 13-11 overall — the most wins in a season since going 13-12 during the 1986-87 season — while their 10 conference wins are the most since going 11-9 in MIAC play in 1999-2000.
 
Gustavus scored the game's first basket, but that would be the only time the Gusties would lead in the game's opening 20 minutes, as Saint Mary's played from in front throughout the first half. Gustavus clawed its way even with the Cardinals twice — 17-17 and 19-19 — but each time the Gusties seemed to wrestle away the momentum, Saint Mary's had an answer.
 
The Cardinals used a late, 10-2 run to build its biggest lead of the half, 34-25 on a pair of Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) free throws, before settling for a four-point, 34-30 advantage at the break.
 
Saint Mary's came out of the break red-hot, scoring 16 of the first 20 points to push its lead to 16, 50-34 with 13:50 remaining in regulation.
 
The Cardinals maintained their double-digit lead for most of the second half, and were nursing an 11-point, 60-49 with six minutes to play — before Gustavus made one final push, cutting the Saint Mary's lead to three, 64-61 with 32 seconds on the clock.
 
That, however, would be as close as the Gusties would get, as Saint Mary's netted seven of the final nine points to seal the playoff-clinching victory.
 
Cave finished with a team-high 20 points, while Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 10, and Kevin Gleason (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla.) each added nine for the Cardinals, who went 27-for-60 (45.0 percent) from the field — including a 6 of 15 showing from behind the 3-point line — and an 11-for-14 effort from the free throw line.
 
Peter Lundquist netted 17 points to lead the Gusties, who also got double-figure scoring from Marten Morem (12) and Kaleb Feahn (10).
 
The Cardinals (10-9 MIAC, 13-11 overall) close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Saturday, heading to St. Thomas' Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference showdown against the nationally ranked Tommies. The Gusties (8-10 MIAC, 8-15 overall), meanwhile, close out their regular-season schedule on the road, heading to Augsburg's Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, Minn., for a 1 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Auggies.