WINONA, Minn. - The Saint Mary's men's basketball team welcomed Northland College for a non-conference showdown on Wednesday evening. The Cardinals delivered a dominant performance, defeating the Jacks 81-66.
 
The teams started out cold with the first three shots of the game all missing. Sawyer Markham would break the cold stretch by scoring a driving layup and getting his first bucket of the game. The next few minutes would continue the cold streak until Jabari Sawyer hit a three to make the score 5-0 for the Cardinals.
 
With 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Jemari Moore drilled a contested three-pointer to give the Cardinals an 18-7 lead. Just three minutes later, he connected on another three, extending the lead to 27-9 and pushing his point total to 10 for the night.
 
The Jacks refused to back down, playing tight defense for the next three minutes and preventing the Cardinals from scoring. However, after fouling Markham, who sank both free throws, the Cardinals extended their lead to 29-17 with four minutes remaining. Back-to-back layups from Jackson Harvey and a mid-range jumper from Markham pushed the score to 35-24 as the teams headed into halftime.
 
Building on the momentum from the first half, both teams began to score more consistently. Jemari Moore added a layup and a jumper, pushing his point total to 14 and extending the Cardinals' lead to 39-29. He then hit another layup while drawing a foul, converting the and-1 to bring his total to 17 points.
 
All within the first five minutes of the opening half.
 
With 15 minutes remaining in the game, Sawyer scored a smooth layup, bringing his point total to 12 for the night.
 
Jonah Ogunsanya knocked down a three, marking his first points of the game and pushing the score to 62-49 with 10 minutes remaining. Then, with 7 minutes to go, Markham hit a three of his own, bringing his point total to 12.
 
The Cardinals cruised to victory, with Dane Brazil hitting a turnaround jumper in the final seconds, marking his first points of the game. The final score was 81-66, securing the Cardinals' third win of the season and improving their record to 3-4.
 
Moore led the team with 19 points, a career high, and two steals, Harvey notched his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Sawyer with 15 points and four assists.
 
The Cardinals are heading North to Duluth, Minnesota on Saturday to play College of St. Scholastica at 1 p.m. and start conference play.