WINONA, Minn. — With both teams boasting one of the top two scorers in the conference — Joe Palmer for the Auggies and Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) for the Cardinals — Wednesday's matchup between the Saint Mary's University and Augsburg men's basketball teams boasted enough firepower to put on their own Fourth of July fireworks display.
 
And Palmer — the league's leading scorer at 21.1 ppg — and Anthony — second in the MIAC at 17.7 ppg — did not disappoint, as the duo accounted for 44 points and 16 rebounds.
 
In other words, there were fireworks aplenty.
 
Unfortunately for the Cardinals, most of those fireworks came from Palmer, who poured in a career-high 34 points — including 22 in the first half — as Augsburg dealt Saint Mary's a 79-61 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
"We did not play well, and (Augsburg) made us pay," said Saint Mary's coach Joe Fano. "We've got to do a better job of taking care of the ball — we committed way too many unforced turnovers, and against a team like Augsburg, you can't afford to do that.
 
"Give Augsburg credit, they played well, and Palmer … what can you say? He knocked down 9 of 10 field goals in the first half —he's a great player and he played like it tonight."
 
The first half belonged to Augsburg … check that, the first half belonged to Palmer, as the junior sharp-shooter knocked down his first eight field goal attempts — and was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the 3-point line — in scoring 22 of the team's 41 first half points, as the Auggies grabbed a 13-point, 41-28 lead at the half.
 
Augsburg built its lead to as many as 19, 36-17, with 6:31 to play in the first half — thanks in part to back-to-back 3-pointers by Palmer that capped a 16-7 run. Saint Mary's, fueled by a 9-2 burst, got to within 11, 39-28, only to have Palmer end the half with a field goal to give the Auggies their 13-point, 41-28 advantage.
 
The halftime intermission did nothing to cool off Palmer and Co., either, as Augsburg padded its lead to as many as 24 points, 74-50 — and Palmer tacked on another 12 points to his first-half effort — as the Auggies rolled to the conference win, their 12th in 14 MIAC contests.
 
Caden Freetly (Farmington, Minn.) scored a team-high 13 points for the Cardinals, while Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) added 11 and Anthony chipped in a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 39.7 percent from the field (25-for-63) with four 3-pointers and a 7 of 10 effort from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (6-11 MIAC, 8-13 overall) are back in action on Saturday, returning to the Saint Mary's Gym for a third straight game, as Saint Mary's entertains Concordia in a 3 p.m. conference contest.
 
 
 
 
 
the top two scorers in the conference squaring off for the first time this season, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's
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