WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team split its two conference games against Macalester a year ago — with both games decided by a combined six points.
 
So it should come as no surprise that when the teams squared off for their first meeting of the 2022-23 season, the game would be yet another nailbiter.
 
Which is exactly what it was — right to the bitter end.
 
Trailing by 14 with less than four minutes remaining in regulation, the Cardinals clawed their way all the back to within one, but that would as close as SMU would get, as Macalester escaped the Saint Mary's Gym with a one-point, 77-76 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory.
 
The Cardinals appeared to have Macalester's number through the majority of the first half, building leads as building leads as big as eight, 25-17 — thanks to an 11-0 run that erased a three-point, 17-14 Scots' advantage.
 
Macalester answered back with a 10-0 run of its own for a 27-25 lead with 5:52 on the clock. Saint Mary's outscored the Scots 6-4 over the final six minutes — including a Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) 3-pointer in the waning seconds to pull SMU even, 31-31, at the halftime intermission.
 
Macalester scored the first basket of the second half and never relinquished the lead. The Scots methodically pushed their lead to 14, 71-57 on a pair of Colby Gold free throws with 2:55 to play in regulation.
 
Down, but far from out, the Cardinals began a steady climb out of that 14-point deficit, scoring 10 unanswered points — including five from Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and three from Noah Frechette () — to whittle the lead to four, 71-67 with 1:42 on the clock. With the Cardinals forced to foul, the Scots could not take advantage, making just 4 of 8 free throws down the stretch — allowing SMU to remain within one possession with 10 seconds to play.
 
Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) would scoring on a driving layup to cut the deficit to one, but with just 1.1 seconds remaining, the Cardinals were out of time and Macalester held on for the one-point win.
 
Anthony finished with a team-high 22 points, while Buysman chipped in a career-best 20. The duo were two of four Cardinals who scored in double figures, being joined by Mallory with 13 points and Frechette (Lakeville, Minn.) with 11.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 54.5 percent from the field (30-for-55) with seven 3-poniters and a 9 of 10 effort from the free throw line. Macalester, which was led by Nick Shannon with 17 points, went 27-for-58 from the field (46.6 %) with nine 3-pointers, and added a 14 of 24 showing from the line.
 
The Cardinals (0-2 MIAC, 1-3 overall) are now off until Nov. 30, when they head to St. Olaf's Skoglund Center Gym in Northfield, Minn., for a 7 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Oles.
  Read Full Article