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Wednesday, February 12, 2003 |
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(Through Tuesday, February 11) |
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Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) tossed in a team-high 24 points on Senior Day, but the senior’s efforts were not enough as SMU dropped a heartbreaker to Concordia 77-73 Sunday. … Gustavus, meanwhile, had its five-game winning streak snapped last Saturday with a 53-51 loss to St. Thomas in a battle of the MIAC’s top two teams. |
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SMU’s offense struggled from the get-go, shooting just 29 percent from the field in the first half (9-for-31), as Gustavus jumped out to a 55-22 halftime advantage en route to a 92-57 victory on Jan. 11, 2003. |
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Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) scored 13 points vs. Macalester on Saturday, making him the 21st player in SMU history to score 1,000 career points. Michaels added 24 on Sunday, giving him 1,025 — ranking him 20th all-time, 19 points behind Al Williams (1960-64). … Michaels' 24 points vs. the Cobbers was his second-highest offensive output of the season. … Jim Wangler (Wheaton, Ill.) scored 20 points against both Macalester and Concordia, giving the freshman four 20-plus point games this season. … SMU's 14-game slide is the team's longest since early in the 1989-90 season. … Michaels' 13.1 ppg average leads the team. … Wangler and Lance Larson (Lakeville, Minn.) are also averaging in double figures at 12.1 ppg and 10.9 ppg, respectively. |
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Junior / Guard Hometown Major |
WINONA, Minn. — The rigors of playing a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule can be demanding.
Playing games on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday is enough to wear down any collegiate team.
But then, a Monday-Wednesday-Saturday setup would have been a welcome sight, compared to the schedule the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team faced last week.
Thanks to a Monday afternoon snowstorm that forced the postponement of SMU's scheduled game at St. John's, the Cardinals were forced to play four games in a five-day stretch — going back-to-back on Wednesday (at Carleton) and Thursday (at St. John's), and Saturday (at Macalester) and Sunday (at home vs. Concordia).
After dropping the first three games of their four-game ordeal, SMU coach Bob Biebel was hoping a little home cooking would be just the ticket for his Cardinals.
In fact, Sunday's game against Concordia had all the makings of a storybook ending to what has become a rather lengthy and unhappy chapter in the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team's season.
There could not have been a better setting in which the Cardinals could finally snap out of their 13-game funk.
Not only was it Senior Day, but the Cardinals also planned on honoring senior forward Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) for his 1,000th career point, which he scored in Saturday's 75-62 loss to Macalester.
Michaels did his part, collecting 24 points — his highest offensive output since a 26-point effort in SMU's second game of the season — and adding 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
Problem was, someone forgot to tell Concordia. The Cobbers rained on SMU's parade, as they got a pair of free throws from Joe Bueckers with 12 seconds remaining to give Concordia a 77-73 victory.
"It's been a tough, tough stretch," said Biebel. "Playing four games in five days is a lot to ask of any team. I give our guys a lot of credit, they battled right to the end."
After managing just 13 points and falling behind 31-13 in Saturday's loss to Macalester, the Cardinals weren't about to dig themselves that same type of hole Sunday. SMU shot 35 percent from the field and trailed by just two, 34-32 at the intermission.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead, 38-36 on a three-point play by Michaels early in the second half, and held a 44-42 lead two minutes later on a basket underneath by Ryan Wilt (Naperville, Ill.).
From there, the Cardinals were never able to regain the lead, and trailed by as many as seven, before using a 16-11 run to cut the lead to two, 75-73 on a pair of free throws by Jim Wangler (Wheaton, Ill.).
That was as close as the Cardinals would get, however, as SMU dropped its 14th straight in falling to 2-16 in the MIAC and 2-21 overall.
Wangler joined Michaels as the only other SMU player to score in double figures, posting his second straight 20-point night.
"We got some very good individual efforts from Nick and Jim — but really, I thought everyone played a pretty strong game," said Biebel. "If you take away the first half (against Macalester), I think we've played three pretty solid halves of basketball. We had our chances (against Concordia), they just hit some big shots, and we weren't able to come up with that key basket down the stretch to get us over the hump."