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Cardinal Roster
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Cardinal Statistics
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Cardinal Schedule
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MIAC Standings
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MIAC Statistics
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| 2005-2006 Records: 5-5 MIAC / 7-8 Overall |
| Recent Results: Carleton 68, Saint Mary's 58 / Details St. Olaf 58, Saint Mary's 57 / Details |
| Upcoming Events: Wed., Jan. 25: Augsburg at SMU, 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 28: SMU at Macalester, 3 p.m. Sun., Jan. 29: Concordia at SMU, 3 p.m. |
| Cardinal News and Notes: The Cardinals’ loss to St. Olaf was its third straight — the first time this season SMU has lost more than two in a row. … Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.) led the Cardinals in scoring both of their games last week, netting 16 against Carleton and 14 vs. St. Olaf. … Smith has scored in double figures in each of SMU’s last four games, averaging 15.2 ppg during that span. … John Gencius’ (Chicago, Ill.) 13 points vs. St. Olaf equalled his season high. … Smith leads a trio of SMU players averaging in double figures with an 11.9 ppg average. Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis. / 11.7) and Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill., / 10.1) are the other two. … The Cardinals have averaged 75.4 ppg in their seven wins, while managing just 60.1 ppg in their eight losses. … SMU’s 57 points vs. St. Olaf was its second-lowest offensive output of the season. … The Cardinals’ loss at St. Olaf was its sixth in seven road games this season, while their loss to Carleton on Monday — SMU’s 12th straight setback vs. the Knights — was just its second home loss in seven games. |
comes up 1.6 seconds short with setback to St. Olaf
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Terrence
Smith 15.5 ppg last week |
Which is exactly the situation the Cardinals found themselves in heading into ast Wednesday's Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game against St. Olaf.
SMU entered Wednesday's game on the heels of back-to-back losses, including a 68-58 setback to Carleton on Monday. Only one other time this season had the Cardinals lost two straight, and they responded with an 87-81 win over Northland.
And it appeared the Cardinals had an answer to their latest two-game losing skid, leading the Oles by as many as nine points in the second half.
Unfortunately, the Cardinals couldn't find a way to put the game away, and it came back to haunt them, as the Oles' Jon Bain scored the game-winning basket with 1.6 seconds remaining to lift St. Olaf to a 58-57 victory.
"It's tough to lose a game like that, especially when you felt like you had the game locked up with five seconds left," said SMU coach Mike Trewick. "I didn't feel like we played all that well, but we were still in a position to win the game in the end."
Terrence Smith (Broadview, Ill.) scored a team-high 14 points for the Cardinals (5-5 MIAC, 7-8 overall), while teammate John Gencius (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 13. Bain finished with a game-high 15 points and added 11 rebounds for the Oles, who snapped a seven-game losing streak.
With the Cardinals leading 49-40, St. Olaf went on a 12-3 run to take a 52-51 lead with 3:38 remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.) and Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) gave SMU a 55-52 cushion, but the Oles scored six of the game's final eight points — including Bain's layup off a pass from Steve Banick — to ice the win.
"The most disappointing part was not being able to put (St. Olaf) away when we had the chance," said Trewick, noting that SMU turned the ball over twice and missed a wide open jumper on its three possessions after taking the nine-point lead. "This team is still learning what it takes to win, and this was another example of that learning process. We had (the win) in our grasp, but we let it slip away."
Now, Trewick and the Cardinals find themselves in an unfamiliar, and not very pleasant, situation — in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
"We'll get things back on track, I'm confident of that," said Trewick, whose team is back in action Wednesday, playing host to Augsburg. "It's nice to have a little break and get some good practice time in. When we take the court (against Augsburg) we'll be ready to go."