WINONA, Minn. - Thursday night, the Cardinals hosted visiting Bethany Lutheran College for a non-conference matchup. Taking the Vikings to overtime, for the second overtime game in a row, the Cardinals fell in a heart breaker.
 
With his return after a one game absence due to an ankle injury, Senior Breyton Buysman got the Cardinals on the board with a three to start the game.
 
Khai Branham followed that up with three of his own, continuing his hot streak from Tuesday and making the game 6-4. One minute later, Branham hit another three, while being fouled and converting the four point play, making the score 12-6. 
 
However, after three straight threes from the Cardinals, the Vikings would push back with three-pointers of their own, taking the lead 17-18, forcing the Cardinals to take a timeout to adjust.
 
A great defensive effort by Bailey McDonald would lead to a catch and shoot three from Jonah Ogunsanya, which he knocked down, increasing the lead to 26-19. Gounsayna followed up with another three just two minutes later, followed by a putback layup, giving him his 10th point of the game and making the score 31-23.
 
With 6 minutes to go, after a steal by Owen Ziegler and an amazing outlet pass from him to Jabari Sawyer, Sawyer would fake into a reverse layup to make the score 36-25, giving the Cardinals 11 points.
 
A fastbreak layup by Jemari Moore would put the Cardinals up double digits again, and a three-pointer from Branham with six seconds left on the clock would end the first for a score of 46 to 36, the Cardinals in the lead.
 
The Cardinals picked up right where they left off. Sawyer would drill a three-pointer to raise the lead to 11, with Buysman hitting a mid-range shot and Moore making a layup to keep the 11-point lead.
 
The Cardinal then fell quiet and the Vikings didn't quit and with 10 minutes to go would make the score 65-64. After continuous back-and-forth play from both teams, Harvey would hit a turnaround shot to tie the game 71-71.
 
With two free throws, Sawyer would reach 20 points first in the game and would follow it up with a layup a minute later to put distance between the Cardinals and the Vikings. The Vikings would immediately respond with a three, to make the game 79-78 going into the final minutes.
 
The Vikings wouldn't back down but the Cardinals continued to fight with a beautiful finish from Branham to keep it a 1-point game with 45 seconds to go. A contested layup from Ziegler would tie the game 87-87 and despite a half-court heave from Buysman, the Cardinals would go to overtime once again.
 
Both teams would show no signs of slowing down on defense or offense, trading shots back and forth. However, Sawyer would break through with a tough layup along with an and-1 call to break the tie and bring the score up to 94-93 with 40 seconds left in overtime.
 
With 13 seconds left, the Vikings would hit two free throws to take the lead back and make it 94-95. However, the Cardinals couldn't find a bucket and would fall short.
 
Sawyer led the team with 26 points and four assists. Buysman garnered a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Branham had 16 points and five rebounds himself.
 
The Cardinals will travel to Chicago on Saturday, November 16th, to play a Division One match up against the University of Illinois Chicago for a noon tip off.