WINONA, Minn. — The last time the Saint Mary's men's basketball team squared off against Augsburg, the Cardinals ran away from the Auggies to the tune of a 91-57 rout on Jan. 16.
 
Since then, the Cardinals have played six games decided by three points, four points, two points, three points, one point, and three points.
 
After six straight games decided by four points or less — including three straight decided in the game's final four seconds — the Cardinals decided to give coach Joe Fano's elevated blood pressure and prematurely graying hair a night off.
 
Sort of.
 
It took Saint Mary's nearly 30 minutes to gain control over the pesky Auggies, but once they did, the Cardinals were able to cruise to their third straight win — a 75-67 victory Wednesday evening at the Saint Mary's Gym.
 
With the win, the Cardinals improved to 10-7 in conference play and 14-8 overall — marking the second time in five years under Fano that SMU has recorded 14 wins. The 14 wins are the most wins since George Drouches led Saint Mary's to a 15-10 record during the 1984-85 season.
 
The Cardinals moved into a tie for third place in the conference standings with Saint John's. SMU and SJU are one win up on fifth-place Gustavus (9-9), and two in front of Hamline (8-9) and St. Olaf (8-10) in the race for one of the six coveted MIAC Playoff spots.
 
Augsburg came out firing, grabbing on an early 7-3 lead on five straight points from Bradley, Winter, but the Cardinals would come storming back, scoring 11 of the next 15 points to take their biggest lead of the half, 14-11, with 13 minutes to play.
 
Augsburg regained the upper hand, using a 10-0 run to build a seven-point, 21-14 lead midway through the half. The Auggies would not trail over the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza, outscoring SMU 5-2 in the final three minutes to claim a 38-34 advantage at the break.
 
The Auggies' four-point halftime lead did not last long, however, as Saint Mary's came out of the break scoring 15 of the first 21 points to take a five-point, 49-44 lead. Augsburg would regain the lead twice over the next two minutes — including 55-54 with just under nine minutes remaining in regulation.
 
Over the next seven minutes, the Cardinals took control, riding a 19-4 run to a commanding 14-point, 73-59 advantage. Augsburg would sandwich a pair of 3-pointers around a Raheem Anthony (Chicago, Ill.) field goal, but it was far too little, far too late.
 
Anthony — the reigning MIAC Offensive Player of the Week — scored a team-high 26 points, including 16 in the second half, and added 10 rebounds for his 10th double-double of the season. Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) chipped in 13 points and Cameron Mallory (Joliet, Ill.) added 12.
 
Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.), meanwhile, went 3-for-5 from behind the 3-point line, giving the junior a single-season school-record 73 3-pointers, breaking the old mark of 71 set by Donald Jordan during the 1994-95 season.
 
As a team, the Cardinals shot 49.1 percent from the field (28-for-57), with 10 3-pointers, and were 9 of 12 from the free throw line.
 
The Cardinals (10-7 MIAC, 14-8 overall) are back in action on Saturday, when they travel north to Saint John's Sexton Arena in Collegeville, Minn., for a 1 p.m. conference showdown against the Johnnies.
 
 
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