The Teams
Saint Mary's Cardinals (4-15 MIAC, 5-18)
vs.
St. John's Johnnies (16-3 MIAC, 18-5)
The Vitals
Saturday, Feb. 17 • SMU Gym • 3 p.m.
Last Meeting
Jason Boll (Sauk Rapids, Wis.) scored a team-high 15 points, Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) recorded 10 rebounds, but SMU could not hold a one-point halftime lead in losing to the Johnnies 84-70 on Jan. 20
Last Action
Andy Bohnker (Story City, Iowa) and Dusty Ward (Lakeville, Minn.) each scored 15 points and Boll hit the game-winning shot with 8 seconds remaining as the Cardinals edged Macalester 72-71 Wednesday. St. John's, meanwhile, won for the 12th straight time on Thursday, routing Concordia 91-57.
This and That
Jason Dzick (Duluth, Minn.) enters today’s game as the Cardinals’ leading scorer, averaging 11.3 ppg. … Troy Bigalke’s 18.8 ppg average leads SJU. … With a win today, the Johnnies would lock up their first MIAC regular-season title since 1993. … The Johnnies are 17-0 when scoring 70 or more points.
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CARDINAL PROFILELance Larson
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for season-ending war vs. SJU
WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University men’s basketball team has been in its share of tight ball games this season.
In fact, heading into last Wednesday’s game at Macalester eight of SMU’s 22 games had been decided by six points or less. Four of those games — first meetings with Augsburg, Carleton and Concordia, and the second time around against Gustavus — came down to the final basket.
Unfortunately, in all eight of those games, the Cardinals came out on the short end when the final horn sounded.
The Cardinals found themselves in yet another one-point, nailbiter against the Scots on Wednesday — only this time, it was SMU that had the last laugh as Jason Boll (Sauk Prairie, Wis.) nailed a basket with nine seconds remaining to carry the Cardinals to a 72-71 victory.
And SMU coach Bob Biebel will be the first to admit that it’s a lot more fun being on the winning end of those last-second games.
“It was cool,” Biebel said of the win. “We’ve been in a lot of close ball games this year and it seems like every time, the breaks haven’t gone our way in in the end.
“This time, they did.”
The Cardinals, down by seven points with six minutes remaining, scored eight unanswered points, the final two on a pair of free throws by Nick Michaels (Dyer, Ind.) with two minutes remaining, to take a 70-69 advantage. Macalester returned the favor with a pair of free throws to regain the lead 71-70 and set up Boll's last-second heroics.
“What it really came down to was, we did what we had to do offensively (in the final seconds) and then got a stop on the defensive end,” explained Biebel. “In the past, that hadn’t been happening.”
It didn’t hurt that the Scots missed the front end of two one-and-one free throw opportunities in the waning seconds, either.
“It’s been that kind of year for us,” explained Biebel. “We’ve put our opponents’ worst foul shooters on the line, and it seems like they nail both free throws every time. Then (against Macalester) we put their best free throw shooters on the line, and they miss the front end — twice.
“I can’t figure it out.”
And he doesn’t really want to.
“It’s about time the breaks went our way,” Biebel said. “I thought we played well enough to win, and when it came down to crunch time, we got the job done, plain and simple.”
Getting the job done is exactly what the Cardinals’ head coach his hoping his squad can do again this afternoon, as the Cardinals play host to league-leading St. John’s.
“This is a big game — for both teams,” admitted Biebel. “For us, it would be great to close out the season with back-to-back wins — to get us pointed in the right direction as we head into next season. And for (St. John’s), they can lock up the conference title with a win.
“It’s going to be a war.”
A war the Cardinals have every intention of winning.