ST. PAUL, Minn. — For the second time in four days, the Saint Mary's men's basketball team made the two-hour trek north to St. Paul.
 
This time around, however, the ride home wasn't quite as enjoyable.
 
The Cardinals — coming off a 63-61 win over Macalester on Saturday — erased a 13-point second half deficit, getting within one point twice in the waning seconds, but Hamline would hit on all four free throws down the stretch in dealing Saint Mary's a 67-64 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback Tuesday evening at Hutton Arena.
 
The Cardinals made things tough on themselves in the game's opening 20 minutes. After scoring four of the first five points for a 4-1 lead, Hamline rattled off 14 unanswered points to grab a 15-4 lead early in the opening frame.
 
Saint Mary's clawed its way back, scoring 22 of the next 33 points to knot the game at 26-26 with 4:34 to play. The teams traded baskets for a 28-28 deadlock, only to have Hamline close the half on a 10-4 burst to take a six-point, 38-32 lead into the locker room at the halftime intermission.
 
The Pipers came out of the break and picked up right where they left off, scoring 12 of the first 18 points to push their lead back to double figures, 50-39. HU would hold its biggest lead of the game, 59-46 midway through the second half, before the Cardinals made one final push.
 
Saint Mary's whittled the Piper lead to one twice — the first on a 3-pointer by Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) to make it 63-62 with 19 seconds to play — and the second on a driving layup by Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) to pull SMU within 65-64 with seven ticks on the clock.
 
The Cardinals were forced to foul after both baskets by Ziegler and Anthony, and each time HU's Jack Larson knocked down both free throws to keep the Pipers in front, 67-64. Anthony had a look at a game-tying 3-pointer, but could not get it to fall.
 
Ziegler poured in a career-high 15 points — knocking down five 3-pointers — while Anthony chipped in 14 points, including 10 in the second half. Saint Mary's shot 35.6 percent from the field (26-for-73) with eight 3-pointers and a 4 of 7 effort from the free throw line.
 
Hamline, which was led by Larson with 12 points, finished 23-for-55 (41.8 percent) from the field and drained nine 3-pointers, while converting on 12 of 16 free throw attempts.
 
The Cardinals (1-1 MIAC, 1-2 overall) are now off until Dec. 1, when they kick off the home portion of their 2021-22 schedule with a 7 p.m. showdown against Saint John's.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Cardinals (2-0 MIAC, 2-1 overall) are now off until Dec. 1, when they kick off the home portion of their schedule with a 7 p.m. conference showdown against nationally ranked Saint John's.