ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team appeared to be in complete control in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-opener against Macalester Saturday afternoon.
After all, the Cardinals — who got scoring from eight different players — held double-digit leads over the host Scots for most of the 40-minute contest.
Most of the contest.
The Scots put together a late-game rally that turned Saint Mary's "walk in the park" to a white-knuckle nailbiter.
Fortunately, Saint Mary's was able to withstand the Scots' second-half charge — thanks in part to a pair of clutch free throws by
Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) with 10 seconds remaining and a win-clinching defensive rebound by
Bruce Lockwood (Shakopee, Minn.)— as the Cardinals held on for a 63-61 victory at Leonard Center Gym.
Saint Mary's set the tone early, scoring eight of the game's first 10 points for an 8-2 lead, and followed that up with an 8-0 run to a commanding 16-5 advantage. Macalester would claw its way back, getting to within eight, 34-26, on a three-point play by Robert Grace IV, before Lockwood closed out the half with a bucket to give SMU a 10-point, 36-26 lead at the break.
Saint Mary's rebuilt its lead to 14, 57-43 midway through the second half, but again the Scots would not go away, trimming the Cardinal lead to three, 59-56, on a Tom Andrese 3-pointer with 1:20 to play.
And then the nail-biting began
Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 61-56, but the Scots answered with a field goal of its own to make it a three-point game, 61-58, with 22 seconds left in regulation. Fouled on their ensuing possession, Saint Mary's missed the free throw, but Freetly hauled in the offensive rebound, was fouled, and calmly drained both free throws with 10 ticks on the clock.
Macalester's Lucas Leiter delivered a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to make it a two-point game. The Cardinals failed to convert on either of their free throws on their next possession, but Lockwood grabbed the second-miss rebound to seal the win.
Noah Frechette (Lakeville, Minn.) scored a career-high 14 points for the Cardinals, while Sawyer chipped in a career-best 10.
36-38 +8; 38-28; 40-30; 42-33 +9; 46-33 +13; 46-35 +11; 48-38 +10; 51-40 +11; 53-42 +11
57-43 +14, 9:29; 59-53 +6 (10-2), 3:44; 59-56 +3 (Tom Andrese 3), 1:20; SMU TO, Mac miss, we rebound; Sawyer 2 FT 61-56; 61-58; SMU miss FT, Freetly, rebound and fouled;makes 2 63-58, :10; 63-61; Lucas Leiter 3, :04; Phillips fouled; Miss both FT, Lockwood rebound;
The Cardinals are back in action on Tuesday, as they play their third straight road contest, heading to Hamline's Hutton Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against the Pipers.
