CHICAGO, Ill. — For the second time in as many games, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team took the court Friday afternoon facing off against a team that had won nine of its first 10 contests.
And for the second time in as many games, the Cardinals would deal their opponent loss No. 2.
Coming off a nonconference win over then-seventh-ranked UW-La Crosse — dropping the Eagles to 9-2 with a 73-66 victory on Dec. 14 — SMU set its sights on North Park and its gaudy 9-1 season-opening record.
Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) scored a lot of points against the Vikings — A LOT — but none were more important that the 3-point bomb he drained with 1.5 seconds remaining in regulation, lifting Saint Mary's to an 83-82 victory.
The 3-point, buzzer-beater capped a career day for Anthony, who scored 26 points — in the second half — and finished with a career-best 41, the highest single-game showing by a Cardinal since Will Wright knocked down 41 against MacMurray on Nov. 22, 2008.
Anthony set the tone early, scoring Saint Mary's first four points — and 11 of their first 18 — and the Cardinals appeared to be in complete control, leading 23-13 midway through the opening half.
That lead was far from safe, however, as North Park answered with an 18-3 run to lead 31-26 with just over five minutes to play. Saint Mary's would cut the deficit to one twice, but North Park scored 11 of the final 18 points in the half to take a five-point, 44-39 advantage into the locker room at the break.
North Park picked up right where it left off to open the second half, and enjoyed a 10-point, 64-54 lead with 9:07 to play.
Those final nine minutes, however, were anything but enjoyable for the Vikings.
Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) knocked down a 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run that was part of a 23-10 Cardinal outburst that gave Saint Mary's a three-point, 77-74 lead with 1:41 on the clock. Jalen Boyd hit a 3-pointer to knock the game at 77-77, and after an Anthony fade-away gave SMU the lead back, 79-77, Boyd hit one of two free throws and tapped in the second missed free throw to put North Park back in front 80-79.
Anthony was fouled on SMU's ensuing possession and hit one of two free throws with 18 seconds remaining, only to have Marquise Jackson drill a mid-range jumper with three seconds remaining that appeared to secure a Viking victory.
Anthony, however, had other ideas, uncorking a bomb from just inside half-court that found nothing but net — and gave Saint Mary's its second straight victory.
Anthony finished the afternoon 16 of 24 from the field, including 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line, and went 6-for-11 from the free throw line. The senior also hauled in 14 rebounds — one shy of his single-game career-best — for his fifth double-double of the season. Ziegler chipped in 18 points and
Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) added 15, for Saint Mary's, which shot 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the field with 11 3-pointers and a 12 of 17 showing from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (4-5 overall) are back in action on Monday, when they return home to the aint Mary's Gym for a 3 p.m. nonconference game against Finlandia.
