MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Owen Ziegler (Mount Horeb, Wis.) was good during the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's 71-65 win over St. Scholastica Monday evening.
 
That effort, however, paled in comparison to what the Cardinal senior did two days later against Augsburg.
 
In fact, Ziegler had already matched Monday's five 3-point effort with 7:23 remaining — in the first half on Wednesday.
 
Ziegler would knock down program record-tying eight 3-pointers — including six treys in the first half — and finished by tying his single-game career-high with 32 points.
 
But that was just half the story.
 
Ziegler wasn't the only Cardinal pouring in points at a frenetic pace.
 
Breyton Buysman (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) couldn't match Ziegler's 3-point accuracy, but the junior did match his offensive output, scoring a career-best 32 points of his own, giving Saint Mary's a one-two punch that was no match for the host Auggies.
 
With Ziegler and Buysman combining for 64 points — marking the first time Saint Mary's had two players with 30+ points in the same game since Bill Skemp scored 41 and Ken Janssen added 38 against UM-Duluth during the 1954-55 season — the Cardinals ran their winning streak to a season-best three straight with an 89-80 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win over Augsburg at Si Melby Hall.
 
After seven minutes in which neither team would score more than four consecutive points, or lead by more than two, the Cardinals took control, using a 6-0 run — capped by a Ziegler 3-pointer — to grab a 23-18 advantage. SMU would continue to extend its lead, closing the half on a 21-14 run to take a 51-40 lead into the locker room.
 
Saint Mary's picked up right where it left off to begin the second half, leading by as many as 13, 64-51 — on the seventh of Ziegler's eight 3s. The Auggies whittled the lead to six, 64-58, midway through the second half, but that would be as close as the Cardinals would let them get in cruising to win No. 3 in a row.
 
Ziegler finished 11-for-22 from the field, including 8 of 18 from beyond the arc, and added a 2-for-3 showing from the free throw line in matching his career high of 32 points, while Buysman — who bettered his previous career-best by six — finished 14 of 20 from the field, with two treys on four attempts, and went 2-for-4 from the charity stripe.
 
As a team, the Cardinals finished 33-for-67 from the field (49.3 %), with 11 3-pointers — one shot of their season high — and knocked down 12 of 19 free throws.
 
The Cardinals (7-11 MIAC, 8-15 overall) are now off until next Wednesday, when they play their final regular-season home game, hosting Gustavus in a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Saint Mary's Gym.
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