WINONA, Minn. — If the first eight minutes of Wednesday's nonconference game against Gustavus were a road contest, coach Joe Fano could have attributed the Cardinals' sluggish start to "bus legs."
 
But the Cardinals were on their home court, so that wasn't it.
 
Fortunately for coach Fano, whatever ailed his squad early on was quickly remedied with an 18-0, mid-half outburst, as the Cardinals erased an early nine-point deficit, raced out to a 35-23 halftime lead, and coasted to a 67-45 victory Wednesday evening at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals could do no right early on, hitting just 2 of its first 12 field goal attempts and turning the ball over four times in falling behind 14-5 with 12:10 remaining in the opening half.
 
Fortunately, that nine-point deficit seemed to work as a wake-up call for the Cardinals, who rattled off 18 unanswered points — including six straight by Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) — to build a 23-14 advantage.
 
Saint Mary's would push its lead to as many as 15, 33-28, before GAC closed the half on a 5-2 burst to cut the Cardinal lead to 12, 35-23 at the break
 
The 15-minute intermission did nothing to cool off the Cardinals, either, as Saint Mary's came out gunning to open the game's final 20 minutes.
 
After hitting just 1 of 7 3-pointers in the opening half, Saint Mary's hit six of its first seven second-half field goals all from behind the arc — led by Kareem Anthony-Bello, who rattled off eight unanswered points in a three-minute stretch to push the SMU lead to 20, 46-26.
 
And the Cardinals continued to pour it on, finishing the second half going 7-for-12 from 3-point land, while outscoring the Gusties 32-22 en route to their second straight win.
 
Anthony posted his third straight game of 20 or more points, scoring a game-high 26, while Anthony-Bello and Cave each chipped in 15. The Cardinals shot 49.1 percent from the field (27-for-55) with eight 3-pointers and knocked down 5 of 11 free throws.
 
Peter Lundquist scored 10 points for the Gusties, who struggled all night from the field, shooting 25.8 percent (16-for-62) — including a dismal 3-for-25 effort from behind the 3-point line, including 0-for-16 from 3 to start the game.
 
The Cardinals (2-1 overall) kick off Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday, returning to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 1 p.m. showdown with Bethel.