WINONA, Minn. — Eli Cave (St. Paul, Minn.) and Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) continued to do their thing Wednesday evening — once again putting up gaudy numbers for the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team against Bethel.
 
But the true star of Wednesday's 57-48 Cardinal victory — their third straight after dropping their season-opener to nationally ranked Saint John's — was the play of Nick Falls (Plymouth, Wis.), who scored a career-high 10 points and gave the SMU offense a much-needed spark off the bench.
 
Falls was a near-perfect 5 of 7 from the field against the Royals — including a 3-for-3 effort in 12 minutes in the first half.
 
Fueled by Falls' performance, the Cardinals rebounded from a sluggish start and led by as many as three, before settling for a one-point, 24-23 lead at the break.
 
Cave and Anthony took the reigns from Falls over the game's final 20 minutes, as Cave poured in 13 of his team-high 24 points, while Anthony posted nine points and four rebounds en route to his third double-double of the season — a 13-point, 10-rebound effort.
 
The Cardinals did not trail in the second half, building leads as big as 12, 41-29, only to have Bethel make things interesting down the stretch, whittling the lead to three, 49-46, with just under four minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Saint Mary's responded with four unanswered points to jump-start a game-ending 8-2 run to ice the win.
 
The Cardinals (1-0 MIAC, 3-1 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they get a second shot at Bethel, this time in a 2 p.m. nonconference matchup at BU's Robertson Center Gym in Arden Hills, Minn.