ST. PAUL, Minn. — There's something about playing on Saturday that seems to bring out the best in the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team.
The Cardinals headed into Saturday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup against Macalester boasting a 3-1 record in its last four Saturday contests — including back-to-back wins over St. Olaf and Bethel in its most recent two.
And Saint Mary's left the Leonard Center Gym sporting yet another Saturday victory, getting what proved to be the game-winning field goal from
Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) and an insurance free throw from
Jemari Moore (Broadview, Ill.) in the waning seconds to carry the Cardinals to a 72-69 win over the Scots.
In a see-saw opening half, the Cardinals wrestled away the early momentum, taking their biggest lead of the half, 17-13, on an
Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) 3-pointer with 11:26 to play.
The Scots answered by scoring 17 of the next 25 points to take a 30-22 advantage. SMU got within five, 35-30 — thanks to a
Khai Branham (Bemidji, Minn.) 3-pointer — only to have Williams knock down back-to-back field goals in the final 39 seconds to give Macalester a nine-point, 39-30 halftime edge.
Saint Mary's made quick work of whittling down Macalester's halftime cushion, and finally clawing to even, 64-64, on a pair of
Jabari Sawyer (Chicago, Ill.) free throws with 4:15 to play in regulation. A Buysman 3-pointer put Saint Mary's in front for good with 25 seconds to play, and, after a Macalester's Coby Gold missed a 3-pointer, Moore knocked down one of two free throws to make it 72-69. Caleb Williams had one last 3-point heave to tie the game, but it failed to connect, giving SMU the hard-fought victory.
Buysman finished with a team-high 21 points, marking the third straight game in which Saint Mary's has had a player net 20 or more points — while Sawyer and Branham each chipped in 14. Branham also hauled in a career-best 10 rebounds en route to his first collegiate double-double, with
Bruce Lockwood (Shakopee, Minn.) also pulled down 10 boards.
As a team, Saint Mary's shot 42.4 percent from the field (24-for-59), with eight 3-pointers — including four from Branham — while also going 14 of 20 from the free throw line.
The Cardinals (5-11 MIAC, 6-15 overall) are right back in action on Monday, returning home to the Saint Mary's Gym for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against St. Scholastica.
