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Saturday, January 10, 2004 |
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(Through Friday, January 9) |
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The Cardinals pot an end to their 21-game MIAC losing streak Wednesday, getting a game-high 18 points from Jeff Tendall (Le Claire, Iowa) in a 66-57 win over Macalester. … Gustavus improved to 5-1 in the MIAC and 7-4 overall with a 70-61 victory over St. Thomas on Wednesday. |
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Gustavus picked up a pair of wins vs. SMU a year ago, winning 92-57 on Jan. 11 and 73-64 on Feb. 12. |
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With its two wins a year ago, Gustavus has now won 21 straight vs. the Cardinals dating back to the 1992-93 season. … SMU snapped its 21-game MIAC losing streak with Wednesday’s 66-57 win over Macalester. … The Gusties placed second in last year’s NCAA Division III national tournament. … Opponents have attempted nearly 100 more free throws than SMU (323-226). … Jeff Tendall (Le Claire, Iowa) leads SMU in scoring, averaging 14.0 ppg. … Tim Brown's 14.8 ppg average leads three Gustavus players in double figures. |
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Year Hometown |
WINONA, Minn. — Officially, Mark Lovelace picked up his first collegiate coaching victory on Dec. 18, 2003, when the Cardinals dispatched of Cal-Tech 87-37.
The win, however, wasn't all that satisfying to the first-year Saint Mary's University men's basketball head coach.
After all, winless Cal-Tech wasn’t exactly going to be battling for a conference championship anytime soon.
In other words, in Lovelace's mind, that first "real" win was still out there waiting to be had.
Wednesday evening, Lovelace's wait finally came to an end.
Fueled by a nine-point Jeff Tendall (Le Claire, Iowa) outburst that gave SMU the lead for good midway through the second half, the Cardinals notched their first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference win of the year, knocking off league-leading Macalester 66-57.
“This one feels great,” said Lovelace, whose team snapped a 21-game MIAC losing streak with the win. “The guys gave it everything they had — they played with so much heart. It’s great that they finally got rewarded for their efforts.”
After battling the Scots to a 28-28 halftime tie, the two teams exchanged baskets early in the second half, before Tendall took over. The junior knocked down a pair of 3-point baskets, then sank three free throws to give SMU a 50-45 advantage with just over eight minutes remaining in regulation.
The Cardinals would push the lead to eight twice, including 59-51 with five minutes left — only to have the Scots come roaring back, using a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, 59-57 with 2:40 on the clock. Unfazed by the Scots' late run, the Cardinals scored the game's final seven points — forcing a pair of Macalester turnovers in the process — en route to the victory.
Tendall finished with a game-high 18 points for SMU, which snapped a three-game losing streak in moving to 1-6 in the MIAC and 2-9 overall. Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.) added 11 points for the Cardinals, while Chris Assel's 18 points led three Macalester (4-2, 5-6) players in double figures.
With MIAC win No. 1 tucked away in their back pockets, the Cardinals look to make it two straight this afternoon against Gustavus — another league-leader, not to mention an NCAA Division III national tournament finalist a year ago.
“Our guys will be ready,” said Loevelace of today’s game vs. the Gusties. “How can you not be excited about playing a team that was second in the country last year? Hopefully we can go out and play with that same high level of intensity.”