Photos of SMU-Hamline game / click here

WINONA, Minn. — When the Saint Mary's University men's basketball team beat Bethel for its third straight win on Jan. 28, 2004, Brensley Haywood (Joliet, Ill.), John Gencius (Chicago, Ill.) and Michael Batterman (Fond du Lac, Wis.) probably didn't think much of it.

After all, it was just a three-game winning streak.

Little did they realize just how difficult it was to win three games in a row.

Saturday afternoon, the trio — playing on Senior Day — helped lead the Cardinals to their first three-game win streak since that 2003-04 season, outscoring Hamline 46-31 in the second half en route to an 84-70 victory at the SMU Gym.

"The confidence just keeps building with this team," said SMU coach Mike Trewick, whose team began their current streak with a 66-63 win over league-leading Saint John's on Monday, then followed that up with a convincing 60-49 win at Macalester on Wednesday. "Getting that win against Saint John's was a huge lift for us — anytime you can beat the top team in the conference, it's bound to boost your confidence."

The Cardinals needed a bit of a confidence-booster after the opening 20 minutes Saturday, as Hamline grabbed a one-point, 39-38 advantage at the intermission.

Over the game's final 20 minutes, however, the confident Cardinals were back, as SMU erupted for a season-high 46 points in the game's final 20 minutes to ice the win.

"We struggled a bit in the first half and didn't play quite up to our abilities," said Trewick, who got a team- and career-high 18 points from Brad Knights (Plainfield, Wis.), as well as a 10-point, 10-rebound effort from Dan Cormier (Blaine, Minn.). "But in the second half, everyone stepped their games up a bit and that (the 46 points) was the result.

"This team is really starting to come together," Trewick added. "We're continue to improve on a daily basis.

"We're not quite where we want to be ‚— but we're getting there."