ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — Their ticket has officially been punched.
Needing one win in their final two regular-season games, the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team took all the guesswork out of it — and avoided any final-game drama — Wednesday evening, rolling to an 83-67 victory over Bethel at Robertson Center Gym.
Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) and
Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) made sure the Cardinals' post-season invite was signed, sealed, and delivered, as the Cardinal duo combined for 56 of the team's 83 points — with Anthony netting 29 and Ziegler adding 27, including 18 in the second half.
And with the win comes the Cardinals' third invitation to the MIAC post-season dance in coach
Joe Fano's five years at the helm. The victory is also Saint Mary's 15th of the season — the most wins under Fano, and the most since George Drouches guided the Cardinals to a 15-10 record in 1984-85.
Saint Mary's scored the game's first seven points — five coming from
Raheem Anthony and the other two from
Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) — and the Cardinals would never relinquish the lead.
SMU pushed its lead to as many as 10, 35-25 with just under five minutes to play in the half, but the Royals had one final push, trimming the Cardinal lead to three, 40-37, on a Zach Doely field goal with two seconds to play.
While Anthony did plenty of damage in the game's opening half — scoring 15 of his 29 points — Ziegler waited until after halftime to unveil his offensive display.
And what a display it was.
The junior scored 15 of the Cardinals' first 19 points — including four 3-pointers — as Saint Mary's extended its lead to eight, 59-51. The Cardinals would continue to extend the advantage, building leads as big as 20, 83-63, before settling for the 16-point victory.
Along with Anthony and Ziegler,
Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) also finished in double figures with 11 points. As a team, Saint Mary's shot 54.2 percent from the field (32-for-59) with 12 3-pointers — including seven from Ziegler, one shy of his single-season school record — while adding a 7-for-8 showing from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (11-8 MIAC, 15-9 overall) — who are currently tied for second in the conference standings with Saint John's and Macalester — close out the regular-season portion of their schedule on Saturday, playing host to Gustavus in a 1 p.m. conference showdown at the SMU Gym.
