NORTHFIELD, Minn. — It should come as no surprise that there would be plenty of offense coming from long range Saturday afternoon when the Saint Mary's University and Carleton men's basketball teams squared off Saturday afternoon.
 
After all, Carleton entered the contest having knocked down a league-high 198 3-pointers, followed closely by SMU's 154 3s.
 
And the two teams didn't disappoint, hoisting up a combined 49 3-point attempts, but in the end, the game came down to a pair of stationary free throws from 15 fee away with 1.6 seconds remaining to decide the outcome.
 
Saint Mary's rallied from an 11-point, second-half deficit — and got a clutch, game-tying 3-pointer from Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) with 1:31 to play — only to have the Knights' Beck Page drain back-to-back free throws in the final seconds to lift league-leading Carleton to a 65-63 win at West Gym.
 
The Cardinals found themselves playing from behind for the majority of the first half, including surrendering the game's first five points to put themselves in an early 5-0 hole. SMU would tie the game at 5-5 on a Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.)  3-pointer and a Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) jumper, only to have the Knights regain the advantage, building their biggest lead of the half, 18-12, with 12:26 on the clock.
 
SMU quickly responded with seven unanswered points — capped by an Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) 3-pointer  — to give the Cardinals their lone lead of the half, 19-18. The lead lasted one possession, however, and Carleton held a five-point, 30-25 cushion on a Beck Page 3-pointer with 1:16 to play. SMU knocked down four unanswered free throws — two from Anthony and two from Nick Falls (Plymouth, Wis.) to end the half and pull the Cardinals within one, 30-29, at the break.
 
It was more of the same for the Cardinals in the second half, as they would lead just twice, both by one point — 31-30 to open the second half and 33-32 a minute later.
 
Carleton appeared to have things under control from that point, capping a 26-14 run with seven consecutive points to build its biggest lead of the game, 58-47, with 7:13 remaining in regulation.
 
Fortunately for the Cardinals, things aren't always as they appear.
 
Saint Mary's answered the Knights' lengthy run with one of their own, quickly getting within five, 58-53, on back-to-back 3-pointers from Ziegler and Buysman — SMU's first two 3s of the half — and following with a layup from Bruce Lockwood (Shakopee, Minn.) with 2:54 to play to cap the 13-2 burst that pulled SMU even, 60-60.
 
After a three-point play by Carleton's Matt Banovetz gave the Knights a 63-63 lead, Mallory would answer with a 3-pointer of his own to knot the game at 63-63. SMU sandwiched a pair of missed field goals around a miss by the Knights, leaving the game deadlocked — until Page delivered the dagger with his two free throws with less than two seconds on the clock.
 
Anthony finished with 23 points and nine rebounds before fouling out with 2:11 to play, while Buysman chipped in 18 points and a career-best nine boards. As a team, Saint Maryu's shot 39.7 percent from the field (25-for-63) with eight 3-pointers, while finishing 5 of 5 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (7-6 MIAC, 11-7 overall) are back in action — and back on the road — on Monday, heading to Hamline's Hutton Arena for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against the Pipers.
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