LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team headed into its first game at the D3hoops.com Classic having had five of its last six games decided by 10 points or less.
 
So it should come as no surprise that the Cardinals' tournament matchup against UW-Superior would go right down to the wire.
 
And thanks to some late-game heroics by Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.), the Cardinals left South Point Arena with a tournament-opening victory.
 
Anthony scored nine of the Cardinals' final 11 points — including a 7-for-8 effort from the free throw line — as Saint Mary's rallied for an 83-78 win over the Yellowjackets.
 
Both teams put together lengthy runs over the game's opening 20 minutes, but it would be the Cardinals who took command later in the half to take a six-point cushion into the halftime intermission.
 
Fueled by an 8-0 run that included five points from Noah Frechette (Lakeville, Minn.), Saint Mary's jumped out to an early 11-4 advantage just 3:16 into the opening half. UW-Superior promptly answered, scoring 10 consecutive points to take its biggest lead of the half, 14-11.
 
With the two teams take turns playing with the lead, the Cardinals grabbed control late frame, closing the half on a 16-8 tear to claim a 40-34 advantage at the break.
 
The Cardinals came out of the break and appeared to have things well in hand, grabbing a 10-point, 54-44 lead on an Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) 3-pointer five minutes into the second half, and pushed that advantage to a game-high 13, 66-53 on a Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) 3-pointer with 9:11 to play.
 
That lead was anything but safe, however, as the Yellowjackets responded by scoring 16 of the next 18 points to regain the lead, 69-68, with 6:10 on the clock.
 
Both teams would play with the lead over those final six minutes, but Anthony's nine-point outburst — and a pair of Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) free throws in the final seconds — sealed the Saint Mary's victory.
 
Held to just six points in the first half, Anthony poured in 16 second-half points to match his season average, scoring a game-high 22 points, while Frechette and Mallory posted career-highs with 16 and 10 points, respectively. Anthony, who finished 12-for-16 from the free throw line, also hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot a season-high 45.3 percent from the field (29-for-64) with six 3-pointers, while going 19 of 26 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals, who evened their overall record at 4-4 with the victory, close out their D3hoops.com Classic appearance on Thursday, squaring off against nationally ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor.