By DONNY NADEAU
Saint Mary's Sports Information Director
 
ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team makes its first post-season appearance in 35 years, as the Cardinals hit the road on Tuesday, traveling to Bethel's Robertson Center Gym for an MIAC Tournament quarterfinal game against the Royals. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m.

The Matchup:
• #5 Saint Mary's Cardinals (10-10 MIAC, 13-12 Overall) at #4 Bethel Royals (13-7 MIAC, 16-9 Overall)
 
GameDay Live On The Web:
• Live Stats * Live Video | MIAC Tournament Homepage
 
The MIAC Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals | Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 * 7:00 p.m.
• No. 6 St. Olaf at No. 3 Augsburg
• No. 5 Saint Mary's at No. 4 Bethel
Semifinals | Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020 * 7:00 p.m.
• No. 4/5/6 seed at No. 1 Saint John's
• No. 3/4/5 seed at No. 2 St. Thomas
Championship | Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 * 7:00 p.m.
• Highest remaining seed will host
 
Last Action:
• Saint Mary's — February 22, 2020 * Schoenecker Arena * St. Paul, Minn.: The Cardinals came with 0.9 seconds of knocking off No. 3 St. Thomas, as the Tommies scored the game-winning basket with less than a one second on the clock in dealing Saint Mary's a heartbreaking 74-72 setback in the teams' regular-season finale | Recap
• Bethel — February 22, 2020 * Robertson Center Gym * Arden Hills, Minn.: The Royals' upset bid against fourth-ranked Saint John's came up just short, as the Johnnies used a 12-4 run over the game's final 2:33 to deal BU a 73-66 setback in the teams' regular-season finale | Recap
 
Saint Mary's vs. Bethel — Earlier This Year:
• January 4, 2020 * Robertson Center Gym * Arden Hills, Minn.: Bethel used a number of lengthy runs — not to mention knocking down 14 3-pointers — in dealing Saint Mary's an 84-57 conference setback | Recap
• February 8, 2020 * Saint Mary's Gym * Winona, Minn.: Eli Cave poured in a team-high 18 points and Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 12, as the Cardinals survived a cold-shooting start to the second half and made all the key shots down the stretch in posting a 63-59 win at the Saint Mary's Gym | Recap
 
How They Got Here:
• Bethel: The Royals closed out the conference season with a 13-7 record to earn the No. 4 seeded in the six-team tournament. Bethel is making its 25th post-season appearance — including tournament titles in 1991 and 2017.
• Saint Mary's: The Cardinals will be making their first post-season appearance since 1985, after closing out conference play with a 10-10 mark that earned them the No. 5 seed.
  
Up Next:
• Tuesday's two quarterfinal winners will advance to Thursday's semifinals, where No. 1 Saint John's and No. 2 St. Thomas will be waiting. The bracket will re-seed following the first round, matching up the lowest remaining seed against the top-seeded Johnnies, while the Tommies will welcome the higher seed to St. Paul. Both semifinal contests are tentatively scheduled for 7 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, February 20. The game is tentatively scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The MIAC Tournament champion will receive the postseason championship plaque and the conference's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament.

Scouting The Saint Mary's Cardinals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• Saint Mary's is making its first MIAC Tournament appearance since 1985, when they dropped a 64-56 decision to Hamline. … Saint Mary's enters post-season play with a 13-12 overall record, while finishing conference play at 10-10. The 13 wins are the most overall wins since going 13-12 during the 1986-87 campaign, and the 11 MIAC victories are the most since going 11-9 during the 1999-2000 season. … Saint Mary's enters Tuesday's tournament-opener against Bethel having won three of their last five, and five of their last eight. … Sawyer Rosner (Phelps, Wis.) scored a career-high 25 points in the Cardinals' season-ending 74-72 loss to No. 3 St. Thomas last Saturday. It was the third time in his collegiate career that the junior has scored 20 or more points in a game. … Saint Mary's has now had a player score 20 or more points in a game 17 times this season — including 12 by Eli Cave, two by Rosner and two by Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.), and one by Kareem Anthony-Bello. … Anthony poured in a career-high 29 points against Augsburg on Feb. 5, while Cave chipped in 25. It was the third time this season the Cardinals have had two players score 20 or more points in the same game. Cave scored 27 points and Anthony-Bello chipped in 20 in the Cardinals' 78-62 win over Concordia on Feb. 1, while Cave (27) and Anthony (26) achieved the feat against Luther on Nov. 30. … Cave — who recorded his first double-double of the season and seventh of his collegiate career with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds against No. 9 St. Thomas in their first meeting on Jan. 18 — scored 10 points against the Tommies last Saturday and enters post-season play having netted 10 or more points in all 25 Cardinal games this season. … With his 19th point against Augsburg on Feb. 5 — a jumper with 11 minutes remaining in the second half — Cave became the 29th player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point mark. Cave enters Tuesday's matchup against Bethel with 1,093 career points. … Cave — owner of 22 career 20-plus point games — scored a season-high 32 points against Augsburg on Jan. 6. The 32-point effort was just four points shy of his career-high — a 36-point showing against Macalester on Feb. 9, 2019 — and marked the third time in his Saint Mary's career that he has eclipsed the 30-point barrier. … Rosner scored 14 points and added 10 rebounds against the University of Dubuque on Dec. 31. It was his first double-double of the season and third of his collegiate career. … Anthony — who, along with his career-high 26 points, posted a career-best 11 rebounds in recording his first collegiate double-double against Luther on Nov. 30 — owns two of the Cardinals' four double-doubles this season. … The Cardinals boast four players who have scored single-game career-highs of 10 of more points this season — Anthony (29 v. Augsburg on Feb. 5), Rosner (25 vs. St. Thomas on Feb. 22), Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn. / 17 points vs. Gustavus on Jan. 8), and Greg Martin (Oklahoma City, Okla. / 14 points v. St. Olaf on Jan. 25 and v. U. of Dubuque on Dec. 31). … Cave — who has led or shared the team lead in scoring in 19 of the team's 25 games — enters Tuesday's post-season game at Bethel leading the team in scoring, averaging 19.1 ppg, followed by Anthony (11.5 ppg), Rosner (9.4 ppg), Anthony-Bello (9.3 ppg), and Rosner (8.8 ppg). … The Cardinals boast four players with 100 or more rebounds — Cave (135, 5.4 rpg), Anthony-Bello (127, 5.1 rpg), Anthony (123, 6.1 rpg), and Rosner (107, 4.3 rpg). … Cave also leads the team in steals with 40, four more than Anthony-Bello, and blocked shots with 20. … The Cardinals knocked down 11 3-pointers against St. Thomas on Feb. 22, marking the ninth time this season they have netted 10 or more treys in a game. … Saint Mary's equaled the program's single-game school record with 14 3-pointers against Hamline on Jan. 11. … Saint Mary's, which drained a single-season school record 233 3-pointers a year ago has netted 191 3-pointers this season. … Rosner leads the team with 42 3-pointers — including seven against St. Thomas last Saturday — followed by Cave (37), Kevin Gleason (37), Anthony-Bello (36), and Pickford (11). … As a team, Saint Mary's is 676-for-1510 (.445) from the field — including 191-for-552 (.346) from behind the arc — and is 281-for-410 (.685) from the free throw line. … Saint Mary's went 25-for-30 from the free throw line against Martin Luther on Dec. 19 — both season highs. On the flip side, the Cardinals attempted just five free throws — making all five — against Carleton on Feb. 12. … The Cardinals' 103-point effort in beating Luther 103-97 on Nov. 30 was their highest single-game offensive output since pouring in 106 points in a 111-106 overtime loss to Augsburg on Jan. 11, 2017. … The Cardinals have put five players in double figures three times this season. … The Cardinals have scored 80 or more points in a game five times this season — and 11 times in the last two seasons. … Saint Mary's two-point win over Carleton on Jan. 20 was its first overtime game of the season — and first since falling to St. Olaf 90-85 on Jan. 31, 2019. … The Cardinals have played just four overtime games in the last seven seasons. … The Cardinals' 63-59 win over Bethel in the team's second meeting on Feb. 8 snapped a 14-game losing streak against the Royals, dating back to Jan. 12, 2013. … With its 80-74 win over St. Olaf in the teams' first meeting on Nov. 23, Saint Mary's snapped a 12-game losing streak against the Oles. It was the Cardinals' first win over St. Olaf since Jan. 16, 2013, when Saint Mary's posted a 66-57 victory. … The Cardinals' 77-67 loss to Wheaton on Dec. 30 snapped their season-high four-game winning streak, while their 87-73 win over Hamline on Jan. 11 ended their season-high five-game losing streak. … Saint Mary's got scoring from 15 different players in its 93-61 win over Martin Luther on Dec. 19. … The Cardinals' 6-1 start to the season was their best start since 2010-11, when they opened the year 8-1. … With their 68-52 win over Crown Nov. 15, the Cardinals have now beaten Crown in their season-opener in back-to-back years — Saint Mary's season-opening win over Crown a year ago was the first collegiate coaching victory for Joe Fano. … Thanks to its 68-52 win over Crown on Nov. 15, Saint Mary's is now 6-0 in its last six season-openers.

Scouting The Bethel Royals:
2019-20 Roster | 2019-20 Schedule | 2019-20 Statistics
• This will be Bethel's ninth straight MIAC appearance and 19th in the last 20 years. …  The Royals have reached the MIAC Tournament semifinals six consecutive years, the longest current active streak in the MIAC. And BU is the only team to have made three appearances in the last 5 years into the MIAC title game. … The Royals enter post-season-play having won two of their last three, the lone loss a 73-66, regular season-ending loss to fourth-ranked Saint John's last Saturday. … Bethel's last two losses have both been to a team ranked No. 4 in the D3hoops.com Top 25, having also suffered a 65-60 setback at the hands of then-No. 4 St. Thomas on Feb. 12. … The Royals closed out the regular season going 6-6 on their home court, while boasting a 10-3 mark away from Robertson Center Gym. … The Royals head into Tuesday's tournament-opening showdown against Saint Mary's boasting five players who are all averaging in double figures in scoring — Isaiah Carver-Bagley (14.1 ppg), Granger Kingland (13.5 ppg), Jack Jenson (13.4 ppg), Hudson Urbanus (10.9 ppg), and Chandler Wellman (10.0 ppg). … The Royals also have four players who have recorded 100 or more rebounds through 25 games, led by Carver-Bagley with 134 (5.4 rpg). Jenson (127), Kingland (109), and Wellman (102) are the other three. … Jenson has amassed a team-leading 84 assists, while also leading the Royals with 38 steals. … Jamal Davis, who is second to Jenson in both assists (69) and steals (37), owns a team-best 26 blocks. … Bethel has knocked down 217 3-pointers this season, led by Carver-Bagley with 54. Urbanus (42), Davis (31), Kingland (29), and Noah Whalen (25) have also drained 20 or more treys this season. … As a team, the Royals are shooting 46.6 percent from the field (654-1403) — including knocking down 217 of 599 3-pointers (36.2 percent) — while adding a 267 of 369 (72.4 percent) effort from the free throw line. … The Royals are averaging 71.7 ppg, while BU's opponents are scoring at a 66.7 ppg clip. … Bethel has scored 80 or more points seven times this season, including a season-high 100 points in their season-opening 100-82 win over Crown on Nov. 9. … Bethel's 100-point effort against Crown on Nov. 9 marked the fifth time in the last seven years the Royals have reached the century mark.