WINONA, Minn. — After the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team beat Hamline 60-57 last Wednesday, coach Mark Lovelace wasn't quite ready to admit that the Cardinals had finally turned the corner.

After Saturday's game against St. Olaf, however, he may well be.

The Cardinals rallied from eight points down midway through the second half to beat the Oles 61-58 for their second straight win — the first time SMU has won two straight since back-to-back wins over Augsburg and Hamline on Jan. 5 and Jan. 7, 2001.

"After we beat Hamline, I really felt like we had turned the corner, but I wasn't sure how the players felt," explained Lovelace, whose team led by as many as 15 in the second half of last Wednesday's victory over the Pipers. "We had proven over the past several games that we could play with teams in this conference, but I didn't know if they really believed they could beat them.

"With this win (agianst St. Olaf), I think the guys are finally starting to believe in themselves."

They certianly made believers of the Oles.

Trailing 56-48 with four minutes remaining, SMU went on a game-ending 15-3 run, pulling to within two, 56-54, on a pair of 3-point baskets from Jeff Tendall (LeClaire, Iowa) and Greg Brown (Martinez, Ga.), then tied it 56-56 on a basket by Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.).

The two teams traded baskets, before SMU took the lead for good, 59-58, on a free throw by Dan Kloak (Elmwood Park, Ill.) with 41 seconds remaining.

But the fun — and the nail-biting — was just beginning.

The Oles' Nate Lund missed a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left, but the Oles got the rebound and SMU quickly fouled. Pat Fraser took a page from Lund's book, missing both free throws — and this time, SMU's Smith pulled down the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws to ice the win.

Smith finished with a team-high 16 points for the Cardinals (3-9 MIAC, 4-13 overall), who have now won three MIAC games for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. Kloak also scored in double figures for SMU, netting 12 points.

"The guys are playing with so much heart right now," said Lovelace. "And the beauty of it is that we are getting different people to step up for us every game," Lovelace said. "Against Hamline, Will (Floyd) gave us a huge lift, and then (against St. Olaf), Greg Brown steps up and comes up with seven second-half rebounds — he was pulling down rebounds from all over the place.

"This was such a great team win," continued Lovelace. "To put together back-to-back performances like we did (last week) is a huge boost."