WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University men's basketball team put together arguably its best half of basketball Saturday afternoon — and it could not have come at a better time.
Down by nine at the half, the Cardinals — led by
Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) and Kai Branham (Bemidji, Minn.) — erupted for 52 second-half points in rallying for a thrilling, 85-76 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory over Bethel at the SMU Gym.
The Royals held the upper hand for the majority of the opening half, with Saint Mary's leading just once, 5-3 on a
Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) 3-pointer. The Royals would push their lead to double figures, beginning at 26-16 on a Kidder jumper, and held leads as big as 12 on three separate occasions — including 32-20 with 6:26 to play until halftime.
Saint Mary's would cut the deficit to seven, 40-33, on a late layup by
Bruce Lockwood (Shakopee, Minn.), but BU's Caden Boettcher answered with a field goal of his own to give Bethel a nine-point, 42-33 lead at the break.
The second half started the way the first ended, with Bethel appearing to have the upper hand, sporting a 61-50 cushion with 13 minutes to play in regulation.
Enter Branham.
The sophomore accounted for 11 of SMU's next 14 points — including a 3-pointer with 7:08 to play that gave SMU its first since the opening minutes of the game, 66-63.
And it was a lead the Cardinals would not relinquish, as they slowly pulled away, getting a pair of free throws from Sawyer to give SMU a 12-point, 83-71 cushion with 1:31 on the clock. Sawyer would close out the scoring with two more free throws — making SMU 8-for-9 from the charity stripe in the game's final minutes — to seal the come-from-behind victory.
Sawyer was unstoppable from the field, going 8-for-10, including a 1-for-2 effort from behind the 3-point line, and knocking down 6 of 7 free throws en route to a career-high 23 points. Buysman chipped in 18 points, with Branham (13) and
Cameron Mallory (11) also finishing in double figures.
As a team, Saint Mary's shot 54.4 percent from the field (31-for-57, with nine 3-pointers, while going 14-for-17 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (4-10 MIAC, 5-14 overall) are back in action on Wednesday, when they make the long trek to Concordia's Memorial Auditorium in Moorhead, Minn., for a 5:30 p.m. MIAC matchup against the Cobbers.
