ST. PAUL, Minn. — After the two-game stretch the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team has just endured, SMU head coach Joe Fano has got to be scratching his head and wondering what his Cardinals did to make the basketball gods so angry.
 
Just two days after falling to Carleton in a game in which the Knights broke a 63-63 tie with two free throws with 1.6 seconds remaining in regulation, the Cardinals were once again victims of a last-second buzzer-beater.
 
Bradley Cimperman delivered a game-winning 3-pointer from well beyond the 3-point line as time expired Monday evening, lifting the Pipers to an 87-84 overtime win over the Cardinals Monday evening at HU's Hutton Arena.
 
The Cardinals had three looks at ending the game in the final 26 seconds of regulation, but came up empty each time, sending the game into overtime deadlocked at 73-73.
 
Saint Mary's would lead once in the extra session, 79-77, on a Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) layup with 1:44 to play. Hamline countered with four unanswered points for an 81-79 lead. Anthony pulled SMU even, 81-81, and then answered a Cimperman 3-pointer with one of his own to tie the game again, 84-84 with five seconds on the clock.
 
Which, unfortunately, was more than enough time for Cimperman to pull off the improbable.
 
The loss overshadowed a Herculean effort by Anthony, who scored a game-high 33 points — including nine of 11 in the five-minute overtime period — and added 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Anthony, who has now scored 30 or more points in a game five times this season, finished 12 of 32 from the field, with one 3-pointer, and finished 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
 
There was no shortage of fireworks in the first half, as the two teams combined to knocked down 11 of 25 3-pointers — five from the Cardinals and six by the Pipers.
 
SMU raced out to an 8-3 lead off the opening tip — including 3-pointers by Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) and Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.). Hamline would battle back to knot the game at 13-13, and would pull even with the Cardinals twice more — 16-16 and 18-18 — before Saint Mary's took control. The Cardinals used a late 7-0 run to push their lead to nine, 41-32, only to have HU close out the half by knocking down back-to-back field goals to claw within five, 41-36, at the break.
 
The two teams picked up right where they left off in the second half, tossing up 21 more 3-point attempts – including 10 that found their mark.
 
And, with 11 minutes to play in the second half, it appeared as if the Cardinals would be able to put things on cruise control, leading by 11, 65-54 on a Sawyer 3-pointer.
 
Hamline, however, had other ideas, getting a three-point play from Brendan Ebel with 2:59 to play to complete a 17-6 run that knotted the game at 71-71. A pair of Anthony free throws gave SMU a two-point lead, but Cimperman hit a jumper on Hamline's next possession, and the game was tied again, 73-73.
 
Saint Mary's had three chances in the waning seconds — thanks in part to a pair of Nick Falls (Plymouth, Wis.) offensive rebounds — but were unable to convert all three times.
 
Along with Anthony's 33 points, SMU also got 15 points from Sawyer and 12 from Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.), while Falls finished with a career-high 10 rebounds — missing out on his first collegiate double-double by one field goal.
 
The Cardinals (7-7 MIAC, 11-8 overall) return home to the Saint Mary's Gym on Wednesday, when they play host to St. Olaf in a key MIAC showdown. Opening tip is slated for 7 p.m.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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