WINONA, Minn. — Concordia entered Monday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team riding a season-opening six-game winning streak — including wins in its first two conference contests.
 
And the Cardinals took the court determined to do everything in their power to hang that first loss on the Cobbers.
 
Concordia, however, refused to cooperate.
 
 CC boasted a lethal inside-outside combination that the Cardinals had no answer for, as the Cobbers knocked down 11 3-pointers and shot 44.8 percent from the field in dealing the Cardinals a 71-57 conference setback at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
The Cardinals led twice in the opening half — getting a game-opening 3-pointer by Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) and a three-point play by Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) for a 6-4 lead with 15:55 to play. Concordia used a 10-3 run to grab a 14-9 lead, but the Cardinals answered right back with five unanswered points by Jemari Moore (Broadview, Ill.) to knot the game at 14-14 with nine minutes to play.
 
From there, however, the first half belonged to the Cobbers, who closed the half on a 23-11 run — building their lead to as many as 15, before Ziegler ended the half the way he started it, with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to get SMU within 12, 37-25, at the break.
 
The 15-minute intermission did nothing to cool off the Cobbers, as Concordia came out of the break knocking down five of its first seven field goal attempts — including a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc — in riding a 15-4 run to a 23-point, 52-29 advantage.
 
Saint Mary's outscored the Cobbers 28-19 the rest of the way, but the second-half hole was just too deep for the Cardinals to climb out of.
 
Moore scored a career-high 14 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including one 3-pointer, and a 1-for-1 showing from the free throw line for the Cardinals. Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) also finished in double figures for SMU, finishing with 10 points, while Ziegler and Buysman each chipped in nine.
 
As a team, the Cardinals finished 23-for-63 from the field (36.5 %), including 9 of 27 from beyond the arc, and knocked down both of their free throws.
 
The Cardinals (0-4 MIAC, 1-7 overall) hit the road on Wednesday, making the trek to Duluth, Minn., for a 7 p.m. conference showdown against St. Scholastica.
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