ARDEN HILLS, Minn. — If Saint Mary's University men's basketball coach Mark Lovelace is looking for a scapegoat to pin Monday's 90-74 loss on, he might want to consider the entire Macalester team.

After all, it was the Scots who knocked off high-powered Bethel 89-64 last Saturday — leaving the Royals in a rather foul mood heading into Monday's MIAC game against SMU.

The Royals erupted for 48 second-half points, erasing a one-point SMU halftime lead and cruising to a 90-74 win over the Cardinals.

The Cardinals were unstoppable in the first half, shooting 63 percent from the field (17-for-27) en route to their 43-42 halftime lead.

That lead, however, quickly vanished — as did SMU's shooting touch — as the Cardinals managed to sink just 11 second-half field goals, including just 5 of 13 3-pointers. Bethel, meanwhile, not only shot 50 percent from the field (13-for-26), but they Royals were also near-perfect from the free-throw line, hitting 18 of 20.

Steve Feller (Iron Ridge, Wis.) scored a career-high 13 points and shared team-high honors with Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.). Jimmy Wajda (Minneapolis, Minn.) added 12 points for the Cardinals, who drop to 0-3 in the MIAC and 0-5 overall.

Tim Gilbert and Travis Jones accounted for 53 of the Royals' 90 points, as Gilbert scored a game-high 28 points — including a 13-for-13 performance from the free-throw line, while Jones chipped in 25 points.