WINONA, Minn. — Tired of nailbiters decided in the waning seconds, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team took a different approach in its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against previously unbeaten Carleton.
 
Emphasis on "previously unbeaten."
 
The Cardinals — who had dropped their first three conference games by a combined  10 points — erupted for 42 first-half points, outscoring the Knights 30-9 in the final 10 minutes of the half, and handed Carleton its first loss of the season with a convincing 85-66 win at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
After an inauspicious start in which Saint Mary's went just 5 of 18 from the field through the game's first nine minutes, the Cardinals turned up the offensive heat — in a big way.
 
Deadlocked at 12-12 with 9:42 to play until the break, Saint Mary's scored 16 of the next 18 points to grab a 14-point, 28-14 lead. And SMU was just getting warmed up, closing the half of a 14-7 run to take a commanding 42-21 advantage into the locker room at the half.
 
Saint Mary's finished 13-for-20 from the field over the final 11 minutes of the opening half, led by Anthony with 14 first-half points — including the Cardinals' first seven of the game — while Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) chipped in 11 first-half points.
 
Carleton tried to make a game of it early in the second half, rattling off 10 unanswered points to cut the Cardinal lead to 14, 47-33. Saint Mary's, however, answered with a 17-9 burst of its own to push that advantage to 64-42 with 9:55 remaining — and the Knights would get no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
 
Ziegler — coming off a career-high 26 points against St. Olaf on Wednesday — was the star of the second half, pouring in 19 points over the game's final 20 minutes en route to a new career-best 30 points, while matching the school-record with eight 3-pointers. Anthony chipped in 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, as SMU boasted two players with 20 or more points in the game for the second time this season.
 
As a team, Saint Mary's shot 47.8 percent from the field (33-for-69), with a program record-tying 14 3-pointers, and were a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Carleton, which was led by Alex Gibbens with 13 points, hit on 23 of 54 field goal attempts (42.6 percent) with 11 3-pointers and a 9 of 11 showing from the charity stripe.
 
The Cardinals (1-3 MIAC, 2-4 overall) are now off until next Saturday, when they make the trek to Moorhead, Minn., for a 1 p.m. showdown against Concordia at Memorial Auditorium.
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