WINONA, Minn. — They call them "free throws," but for the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team, they were anything but free.
 
Saint Mary's hit just 9 of 19 attempts from the free throw line — including missing a potential game-tying charity toss in the game's waning seconds — as St. Olaf escaped the Saint Mary's Gym Monday evening with a 65-64 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over the Cardinals.
 
"You aren't going to win in this league shooting like that from the free throw line," said Saint Mary's coach Joe Fano. "We make our free throws — and all those layups we missed — and the outcome is completely different.
 
"We just didn't execute, it was that simple."
 
The Cardinals had the upper hand early, building a quick 13-6 advantage, but found themselves deadlocked at 22-22 with 5:53 remaining in the first half. Over those final five-plus minutes, however, the Cardinals outscored the Oles 14-2 to grab a 12-point, 36-24 advantage heading into the halftime break.
 
Saint Mary's did not let St. Olaf get closer than eight through the first five minutes of the second half, and held a 44-34 advantage following a Shawn Pickford (Minneapolis, Minn.) jumper with 15:10 to play in regulation.
 
From there, however, the Oles went to work, scoring 15 of the next 20 points — capped by a pair of Dominic Bledsoe free throws with 9:26 remaining — to pull St. Olaf even, 49-49. Saint Mary's promptly scored the next seven points to regain the upper hand, 56-49.
 
The Oles, however, would not go away, and once again pulled even with the Cardinals, 61-61, with just over a minute left on the clock. Bledsoe gave St. Olaf a 63-61 lead with 59 seconds to play, and, after Raheem Antony (Chicago, Ill.) hit one of two free throws to make it a one-point game, 63-62, Bledsoe nailed a pair of free throws at the other end for a three-point, 65-62 lead.
 
Anthony made it a one-point game with a driving layup with 16 seconds left, and, after Bledsoe missed a pair of free throws that would have sealed the win, the Cardinals had one possession left to pull out the victory — only to have their last-second field goal attempt miss the mark.
 
Anthony closed out the game with a team-high 19 points, while Bruce Lockwood (Shakopee, Minn.) chipped in nine points and a career-best 10 rebounds. Noah Frechette (Lakeville, Minn.), Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.), and Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) each chipped in eight points for the Cardinals, who shot 41.3 percent from the field (26-for-63), but were just 3 of 19 from the 3-point line and 9 of 19 from the charity stripe
 
The Cardinals (6-10 MIAC, 8-12 overall) are right back in action for the second of three straight home games on Wednesday, welcoming Augsburg to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. conference showdown.
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