By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ST. PAUL, Minn. — It's not often that a heartbreaking, two-point loss has a silver lining, but that was exactly the case Saturday afternoon.
 
After all, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's 74-72 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular-season loss at No. 3 St. Thomas Saturday, capped by the Tommies' scoring the game-winning basket with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation, was exactly that — a "regular season-ending" loss.
 
Not a "season-ending" loss.
 
For the first time in 35 years, Saint Mary's season does not conclude with the end of the regular-season schedule, as the Cardinals are one of six conference teams to earn an invitation to the MIAC's post-season dance.
 
And the Cardinals' tournament-opening dance partner will be Bethel, which dropped a 73-66 decision to Saint John's Saturday. The Royals will host Saint Mary's (10-10 MIAC, 13-12 overall) in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal matchup at Robertson Center Gym in Arden Hills, Minn., on Thursday.
 
St. Thomas, meanwhile, locked up a share of the MIAC regular-season title and the post-season tournament's No. 1 seed. The Tommies will host a semifinal game at Schoenecker Arena in St. Paul, Minn., on Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
The Tommies showed their hand early against the Cardinals — they were going to live and die by the three. And through the game's opening 20 minutes, UST was doing more dying than living — missing their first nine 3-point attempts and going just 4 of 20 from beyond the arc.
 
St. Thomas' shooting woes suited Saint Mary's just fine, as the Cardinals had the upper hand early, and — thanks to an Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) three-point play and a 3-pointer by Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) in the final 45 seconds to pull even with the Tommies, 29-29, at the break.
 
The second half, however, belonged to the Cardinals.
 
After giving up the opening basket of the half, Rosner knocked down back-to-back-to-back 3-opinters and Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) added another field goal to give Saint Mary's a 40-31 lead.
 
That lead continued to grow — culminating with a 19-point, 56-37 lead midway through the half.
 
Over those final 10 minutes, however, the Tommies began to chip away, and got to within two, 72-70 with just under one minute remaining in regulation.
 
And that's when things got really interesting.
 
On St. Thomas' next possession, the Cardinals were called for a flagrant foul giving UST two free throws and the ball with 12 seconds on the clock. Zach Theisen knocked down both free throws to knot the game at 72-72 and Riley Miller's finger-roll with 0.9 seconds secured the Tommies' come-from-behind win.
 
Rosner finished with a team-leading 25 points — including 14 in the first half — while Anthony chipped in 18, and Kareem Anthony-Bello (Chicago, Ill.) and Cave each chipped in 10. Anders Nelson finished with 13 points to pace the Tommies, with Elijah Hannnah (12), Miller (11), and Burt Hedstrom (11) also finishing doublel figures.